Featured July 29, 2025 Understanding public perceptions of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government Back to Blog Nonvoters are less trusting of the federal government than voters Date September 15, 2025 Authors Hannah Sobran Tags Government Effectiveness An analysis of a recent nationally representative survey conducted by the Partnership for Public Service in April showed that those who did not vote in the 2024 election were less trusting of the federal government than those who voted. Only 20% of nonvoters said they trust the federal government compared with 37% of voters. Similarly, only 31% of nonvoters said that they trust civil servants compared with 56% of voters who said the same. In addition, nonvoters were more unsure about their views of government and tended to follow the news less closely when compared with those who voted. Both groups, however, were equally concerned about the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government. These results are based on self-reports of whether respondents voted in the 2024 election. Nonvoters are more uncertain and less opinionated about many issues related to the federal government and civil servants Across a wide variety of government-related questions, nonvoters consistently answered “don’t know” or “not sure” at much higher rates than voters. For example, while only 4% of voters stated that they “do not know” if they support or oppose changes made to the federal government by the Trump administration, 32% of nonvoters said the same. The specific reasons for this difference are unclear, although the uncertainty may stem from some factors that keep people from voting: political fatigue, apathy towards government or a feeling that government has little impact on their daily life. Nonvoters are more likely to tune out the news Only 9% of nonvoters said they follow news about U.S. politics and the government “extremely” or “very” closely compared with 59% of voters. Similarly, only 18% of nonvoters followed the changes made to the federal government by the Trump administration “extremely” or “very” closely compared with 59% of voters. This pattern may further contribute to their uncertainty about government. Despite negative views of government’s impact, nonvoters are not sold on cuts to government funding and personnel More nonvoters believe that the government has a negative impact than positive. Forty percent said the federal government has a negative impact on the country while only 25% said it has a positive impact. This compared with 47% of voters who said the government has a positive impact and 46% who said it has a negative impact. However, nonvoters seem to disfavor the Trump administration’s approach to handling the federal government. Fully 40% of nonvoters said they oppose the changes to the federal government made by the Trump administration while 28% supported them. In comparison, 52% of voters opposed the administration’s changes while 44% supported them. While 38% of nonvoters said that government layoffs and cuts would make their life somewhat or a lot worse, only 17% said it would make their life somewhat or a lot better. Among voters, 35% said these changes will make their life better, and 48% said they will make their life worse. This suggests that nonvoters may hold complex views about government, being more discontent with the way it works than voters but also disapproving of a ‘slash and burn’ approach to reform. A strong democracy relies on active civic engagement, but in 2024, 36% of voters or some 90 million Americans sat out the election. Gaining insight into nonvoters’ opinions may help both government and non-government leaders to engage nonvoters in the process of creating a better, more responsive and accountable government. Further analysis of the survey results can be found in the Partnership’s recent reports on the state of public trust in government and perceptions of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government.
