Democrats Think House Virus Committee Will Make Us Safer; GOP Voters See More Politics

Democrats remain highly critical of how the government is handling the coronavirus crisis and think a new House oversight committee will make things better. Republicans see more politics ahead.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of all Likely U.S. Voters think the special oversight committee created by the House of Representatives to monitor the federal response to the disease will aid and improve America’s fight against the coronavirus. Thirty-six percent (36%) say it will become a political tool to attack President Trump instead. Twelve percent (12%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But as with most issues involving the president, party affiliation dictates responses. Seventy percent (70%) of Democrats and unaffiliated voters by a 44% to 39% margin say the new committee created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi will better the fight against COVID-19. Fifty-five percent (55%) of Republicans believe the committee will just be a political tool.

Forty-three percent (43%) of all voters rate the federal government’s response to the coronavirus so far as good or excellent. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say it’s doing a poor job.

At the beginning of last month, 46% rated the government response as good or excellent, while 30% said its performance was poor. 

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted April 6-7, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

As the coronavirus opens the door for greater government control of our lives, voter support for a taxpayer-funded income for all and government-controlled health care are on the rise. Democrats are far bigger fans than others, though.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans now give positive marks to the government’s response to COVID-19. Just 23% of Democrats and 38% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree.

Men think the government is doing a better job than women do. Whites have a more favorable view of the government’s anti-virus actions to date than blacks and other minority voters.

Women and those under 40 have higher hopes for the new oversight committee than men and older voters do.

Seventy percent (70%) of voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing expect the new House committee to become another anti-Trump political tool. Among voters who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s job performance, 77% say the committee will aid and improve the fight against the coronavirus.

Voters overwhelmingly support the $2.2 trillion relief package passed recently by Congress in response to the coronavirus, even though they suspect it’s packed with goodies for political allies. They also think more taxpayer-funded help will be needed in the days ahead.

Still, Americans say government money is not the answer to the financial hardships brought on by the coronavirus. Most worry the government will run out of cash if the aid packages continue.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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