Have Trump’s government cuts reduced waste and fraud? What Americans said in a poll

In the two months since Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump’s administration has slashed tens of thousands of federal jobs and reduced funding for numerous agencies in his crusade to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”

But, Americans are divided over what share of these cuts have targeted excess spending, according to new polling.

In a March 17 YouGov survey, 32% of respondents said that all or most of the recent government cuts have “primarily eliminated wasteful or fraudulent spending.”

Eleven percent said half of the spending reductions had predominantly slashed waste and fraud, and 40% said that few to none of the cuts had mainly reduced waste and fraud. An additional 17% said they weren’t sure.

Conducted with 29,281 U.S. adults, the poll found opinions on Trump’s downsizing effort were strongly tied to party affiliation.

The majority of Republicans, 60%, said all or most of the cuts have primarily targeted waste and fraud, while 64% of Democrats said few to none of them had.

The poll also asked respondents if they believed Trump’s changes were well thought out. Again, the responses were split.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they believed recent cuts to the federal government had been somewhat or very carefully considered.

Meanwhile, about half of respondents, 49%, said they thought the recent modifications had not been very carefully or not at all carefully considered.

The vast majority of Republicans, 73%, thought the president’s cuts had been well thought out, while 74% of Democrats thought they had not been. Thirteen percent said they were not sure.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Have Trump’s government cuts reduced waste and fraud? What Americans said in a poll."