Poll Reveals Perception of Government Shutdown
Only a small 8% of Americans feel that Democrats emerged victorious in the recent government shutdown, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll.
The investigation asked respondents, “Who do you think won the battle for closure?” The results showed that 39% believed “neither side could win,” while 35% sided with the Republican Party. Just 8% regarded the Democrats as the victors.
Even among Democrats, there seems to be a consensus that they did not succeed. Only 14% of Democrats thought their party won, while 25% felt Republicans won, and 45% believed neither side was victorious. A narrow majority of Republicans (52%) thought their party had won the shutdown battle, but 26% disagreed and said neither party had a win. Among independents, 46% felt neither side won, with 28% siding with Republicans and a mere 4% siding with Democrats.
This survey included 1,549 U.S. citizens and was conducted between November 15 and 17, 2025, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.
The recent government shutdown, which turned out to be the longest in U.S. history, came to an end last week with the approval of a clean continuing resolution (CR) and President Donald Trump’s signature.
The Clean Continuing Resolution funds the government until the end of January and covers three of the 12 appropriations for fiscal year 2026, specifically for Agriculture, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs, among others.
President Trump, alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and others, criticized Democrats for their refusal to reopen the government before signing the bill.
During the 43-day shutdown, Democratic leaders aimed to address far-left demands, consistently rejecting a clean CR proposed by Republicans, instead insisting on $1.5 trillion in spending, which included funding for left-wing media and healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
Trump remarked, “For the past 43 days, Congressional Democrats have shut down the United States government to extort hundreds of billions of dollars from American taxpayers on behalf of illegal aliens.” He accused Democrats of attempting to “blackmail” the country and expressed frustration over the situation, highlighting the significant disruptions caused, including the cancellation of thousands of flights.
