Federal Government

Two separate, but related conversations have been prominent on Twitter—one about the government shutdown and the other about President Obama's health care law, the landmark legislation at the heart of the Congressional impasse that triggered the shutdown.

Which federal data sources are, aren't and may be affected by the government shutdown.

Almost half of Americans say Congress is gridlocked because of the wide partisan gap; more than a third say it’s because of a few members who won’t compromise.

The estimated cost of the two federal government shutdowns in fiscal 1996 was more than $1.4 billion ($2.1 billion in today's dollars).

Survey Report With a possible government shutdown just hours away, public anger at the federal government is as high as at any point since the Pew Research Center began asking the question in 1997. Anger is most palpable among conservative Republicans – 41% say they are angry at the federal government, the highest among any […]

As the government faces its first shutdown since 1995-1996, the standoff between the Obama administration and Republicans over the federal budget is occurring in a different public opinion environment than when President Bill Clinton faced off with the GOP-controlled House.

The 1995-1996 government shutdowns didn’t help the GOP’s image, but the party had lost support among the public well before they happened.

Raising the federal debt limit has given both Republicans and Democrats, in Congress and the White House, fits for decades.

Overview If the federal government shuts down because Republicans and the Obama administration fail to agree on a budget, there will be plenty of blame to go around. About as many say they would blame the Republicans (39%) for such a standoff as say they would blame Obama (36%), with 17% volunteering that both would […]

Survey Report As Ben Bernanke prepares to step down as chairman of the Federal Reserve in January, the public views him somewhat more favorably (38%) than unfavorably (31%), with 32% unable to offer a rating. Bernanke is better known now than he was in March 2008, when 55% could not rate him; at that time, […]