Emily Ekins and Hunter Johnson
89 Percent Favor Auditing All Government Spending to Root Out Waste, Fraud, and Abuse; Americans Would Cut 40 Percent Across the Board
Findings from the Cato Institute’s 2025 Fiscal Policy National Survey of 2,000 Americans reveal a bleak assessment of the government’s financial responsibility. More than three-fourths (76 percent) of Americans believe the federal government “spends too much money.”
This sentiment may be driven in part by the fact that 85 percent say the increase in government spending over the past decade has either had no impact (42 percent) or even reduced (43 percent) their quality of life. A staggering 98 percent of Americans believe there is at least some “waste fraud and/or abuse” in federal spending, including 66 percent who say there is a considerable amount.
Perceptions of government waste may have reached an all-time high. Americans estimate that 59 cents of every dollar the federal government spends is wasted. This is higher than Gallup has recorded since it began asking the question in 1979.
This may be why 9 in 10 Americans (89 percent) support an audit and evaluation of all federal government spending to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. This includes majorities of Democrats (83 percent), independents (89 percent), and Republicans (99 percent) who support a government-wide audit.
Americans are also ready to take action. Respondents say they would cut 40 percent “across the board” to help balance the federal budget.
Many see a bloated federal workforce as part of the problem as well: 51 percent believe the federal government employs too many workers, and they estimate that 34 percent of federal jobs are unnecessary. Accordingly, 62 percent support cutting the number of federal employees to reduce spending.
Americans also believe these cuts would bring broader economic benefits. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) say reducing federal government spending would help the economy, compared to 22 percent who believe it would harm it. Few (14 percent) think cutting government spending would have no impact on the economy.
The public is more divided on how to implement budget reductions. One example is impoundment—when the president refuses to spend funds Congress has appropriated. Just 26 percent support this approach, while 43 percent oppose it, and 31 percent remain unsure.
The survey also asked about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the group tasked with auditing government spending. While a majority support the idea behind DOGE, public opinion is mixed on its methods. More Americans view the agency unfavorably (48 percent) than favorably (44 percent). Although most support the goal of auditing government spending, 46 percent believe DOGE has taken the wrong approach, while 36 percent approve of its methods. The remainder either have no opinion (15 percent) or oppose auditing altogether (6 percent).
Americans are more unified in their approach to reducing the $2 trillion federal budget deficit. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) want to focus either exclusively (49 percent) or primarily (15 percent) on spending cuts rather than on raising taxes. Only 15 percent want to exclusively (5 percent) or primarily (10 percent) raise taxes, while less than a quarter (22 percent) want to both cut spending and raise taxes equally.
Despite these mixed views on implementation, the survey makes one thing clear: Americans are deeply concerned about government waste and spending, and they say they are ready for action.
Americans Say Government Spending Hasn’t Helped Them
Over the past decade, federal government spending has increased about 25 percent per person, adjusted for inflation. When asked if the increase in spending has improved their quality of life, reduced it, or made no difference: 85 percent say it had not helped them; 42 percent say it had no impact; and 43 percent say it reduced their quality of life. Notably, this is a nonpartisan observation: 8 in 10 Democrats and 9 in 10 Republicans and independents believe the increase in federal spending has not improved their lives.
There isn’t a clear skew by income either: Only 15 percent of Americans earning less than $30,000 a year and 21 percent of Americans earning over $150,000 a year say this spending made them better off.
The dramatic increase in spending without perceived benefits to voters may raise questions about what value Americans are getting for their tax dollars.
76 Percent of Americans Say the Federal Government Spends Too Much Money
More than three-fourths (76 percent) of Americans say the government spends too much money, while 8 percent say it doesn’t spend enough, and 16 percent says it’s about right. This is not a partisan perception. Majorities of Democrats (59 percent), Republicans (93 percent), and independents (80 percent) all agree that the federal government spending is excessive.
Interestingly, the Democratic Party is divided: Strong liberals are one of the few groups with less than half (46 percent) who believe the government spends too much compared to 64 percent of moderate liberals.
66 Percent Believe There Is Considerable Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Federal Government Spending
Most Americans (98 percent) broadly agree there is waste, fraud, or abuse in the federal government. A little less than half (47 percent) say there is a great deal, 19 percent say there is a moderate amount, 20 percent say there is some, and 12 percent say there is “a little” waste, fraud, and abuse.
While most Americans are concerned about waste, Democrats believe there is a less pervasive problem. Less than half (44 percent) of Democrats think there is a great deal or moderate amount of waste, compared to 65 percent of independents and 92 percent of Republicans.
Putting a dollar amount on the problem, nevertheless, demonstrates both Democrats and Republicans believe there are alarmingly high levels of waste: Democrats think that 48 cents on the dollar is wasted, while Republicans say 67 cents on the dollar and independents say 59 cents on the dollar. However someone defines a “great deal” of waste, believing that half or more of all government spending waste is a problem.
89 Percent Favor Auditing All Federal Government Spending to Root Out Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Strong majorities of Democrats (83 percent), Republicans (99 percent), and independents (89 percent) support conducting an audit and evaluation of all federal government spending to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
That being said, Democrats have less fervid support. For instance, while 83 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents strongly favor an audit, only 34 percent of Democrats do.
51 Percent Say There Are “Too Many” Federal Government Workers
The federal government currently employs about three million federal workers. Most Americans (51 percent) think the government employs “too many” people, 15 percent think it’s not enough, and 34 percent think it’s the right amount.
Another reason Americans think there are too many government workers is they don’t believe that many people are needed to perform the government’s duties. On average, Americans think that more than a third (34 percent) of federal jobs are unnecessary.
Another potential reason Americans may want to cut jobs is that 52 percent of Americans think that government workers fail to be nonpartisan. About a third (34 percent) of Americans and 64 percent of Republicans think federal employees are biased in favor of the Democrats. About a fifth (18 percent) of Americans and 28 percent of Democrats think they are biased in favor of Republicans. While both Republicans and Democrats perceive bias, Republicans are much more likely to perceive it.
There are significant partisan and ideological cleavages in views of the federal bureaucracy. For instance, only 25 percent of Democrats (and 11 percent of strong liberals) think there are too many federal workers compared to 83 percent of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely to think the federal bureaucracy is a reasonable size (52 percent). These differences are reflected in the share of government jobs Democrats and Republicans think are unnecessary: Democrats think a quarter of federal jobs are unnecessary, compared to 32 percent among independents and 43 percent among Republicans.
62 Percent Favor the Federal Government Cutting the Number of Federal Workers to Reduce Spending
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support reducing the number of federal workers while 38 percent oppose. There are significant ideological differences to this question. Only 19 percent of strong liberals and 38 percent of moderate liberals support cutting the federal workforce. In contrast, 64 percent of moderates, 91 percent of conservatives, and 93 percent of strong conservatives support it.
There are racial gaps in support for reducing federal workers. Majorities of white Americans (69 percent), Asian Americans (59 percent), and Hispanic Americans (57 percent) favor it. In contrast, only 41 percent of black Americans support this approach, and 59 percent oppose it.
Education doesn’t correlate with attitude, but age does. A majority (53 percent) of adults under 30 oppose cutting the federal workforce and 47 percent favor it. In contrast, 76 percent of seniors support cuts while 24 percent oppose it.
64 Percent Say Reducing Government Spending Will Mostly Help the Economy
Most Americans (64 percent) believe cutting federal spending will mostly help the economy, 22 percent say it will mostly harm, and 14 percent say it will have no impact. This matches the current temperature on government spending, where Americans are expressing increasing frustration. Breaking this down by party, Democrats believe cutting spending would help the economy (47 percent) more than harm (37 percent) or have no impact (16 percent). As for Republicans, 87 percent say it will help, while 60 percent of independents say it will stay the same.
Two-Thirds Focus on Spending Cuts to Balance the Budget
The US national debt is about $36 trillion, and the annual federal budget deficit is projected to be about $2 trillion a year. When asked how they would address the budget deficit, most Americans (64 percent) want to primarily (15 percent) or exclusively (49 percent) cut spending. A fifth (22 percent) want to both cut spending and raise taxes. Only 15 percent want to exclusively raise taxes (5 percent) or primarily raise taxes (10 percent).
When offered a greater variety of methods to close the budget deficit, 60 percent thought an audit would be a useful place to start, 54 percent said to cut federal spending across the board, 49 percent would raise taxes on wealthy households, 28 percent would cut the number of federal workers, 4 percent would raise taxes across the board, and 4 percent would borrow money.
Americans Are Wary of Impoundment
Americans are cautious about the president using powers of impoundment to withhold funds that Congress has passed a law to spend. A plurality (43 percent) think the funds should be spent, 26 percent think they should be withheld, and 31 percent are not sure. This lines up with a recent poll by YouGov that asks the same question.
This response only changes a little if respondents are told that the purpose of the impoundment is to reduce the federal deficit. Still, a plurality (41 percent) think the funds should be spent, 31 percent say they should be withheld, and 28 percent aren’t sure.
A solid majority (74 percent) of Democrats oppose impoundment and believe that congressional appropriations should be spent, whereas Republicans support the president withholding the funds (53 percent). It’s unclear how much of these attitudes is due to partisanship versus a genuine belief that the president should have the power not to spend money. It’s probably both. Telling respondents that the purpose of the president withholding funds is to reduce the budget deficit moves partisan attitudes only slightly. Democratic opposition drops from 74 percent to 65 percent, and Republican support rises from 53 percent to 59 percent. Independents shift from 23 percent to 30 percent in support.
Americans Support DOGE Goals, Not Methods
While 89 percent of Americans support auditing all federal spending, they aren’t sure that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is using the right approach. First, more people have an unfavorable (48 percent) opinion of DOGE than favorable (44 percent). While 80 percent say they support the idea behind DOGE, a plurality (44 percent) do not support its methods, while 36 percent do support it. Fifteen percent (15 percent) don’t know enough to evaluate DOGE. Americans are also split about if DOGE is helping the economy (37 percent say it helps versus 39 percent say it hurts) or if it will ultimately do more harm than good (41 percent) or more good than harm (38 percent).
Part of the issue is that DOGE has been dramatically colored by partisanship. Fully 75 percent of Republicans support a federal audit and how DOGE is handling it compared to 7 percent of Democrats. In contrast, 69 percent of Democrats say they support an audit but do not support how DOGE is handling it. Those who didn’t affiliate with Democrats or Republicans tended to follow the national average, with about a third of independents supporting audits and DOGE and 45 percent opposing DOGE but supporting audits.
Full survey toplines found here
Full survey crosstabs found here
Methodology
The Cato Institute 2025 Fiscal Policy Survey was designed and conducted by the Cato Institute in collaboration with YouGov. YouGov collected responses online March 20–26, 2025, from a national sample of 2,000 Americans 18 years of age and older. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2.54 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. Restrictions were put in place to ensure that only the people selected and contacted by YouGov are allowed to participate. A more comprehensive methodology description can be found in the topline and crosstab documents.
Hunter Johnson contributed to this report.