33% approve of the tax law in January, 55% disapprove
Republican approval has edged up to 78% from 70% a month ago
20% congressional approval in January 2018, matching the 2017 average
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A majority of Americans continue to disapprove of the
nation's new tax reform law after its late December passage, just
as they did a month ago when it was still being debated.
Gallup assessed attitudes toward the tax bill in early December and found
disapproval outweighing approval by almost 2 to 1: 56% vs. 29%. A month
later, after Congress passed the bill and President Donald Trump signed
it into law on Dec. 22, a new Gallup survey finds little substantive change.
Approval has edged up four percentage points to 33% as the percentage
with no opinion dropped by a similar amount, but these changes are not
statistically significant.
Views of the Tax Law, December 2017 and January 2018
Question wording
Approve
Disapprove
No opinion
%
%
%
Before passage, Dec 1-2, 2017
"The tax bill being debated in Congress that would make major changes
to the federal tax code for individuals and businesses"
29
56
16
After passage, Jan 2-7, 2018
"The tax bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the
president"
33
55
12
GALLUP
The law continues to receive a solid approval score among Republicans,
much lower approval among independents and almost no support among Democrats.
Approval increased by eight points between December and January among
Republicans and by seven points among independents. The single-digit approval
among Democrats remained virtually the same.
Republicans' Approval of Tax Law Edges Up
% Approve
Republicans
Independents
Democrats
%
%
%
Before passage, Dec 1-2, 2017
70
25
7
After passage, Jan 2-7, 2018
78
32
6
Gallup
Congress Approval Up Somewhat Among Republicans
Members of the Republican-led Congress have extolled the passage of the
new tax bill, partly because it represents a demonstrable accomplishment
in a year when the legislative body had been criticized for getting little
done. But the bill remains unpopular, and there is little evidence to
date of any resulting major change in the American public's views
of Congress.
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Congress' job approval is 20% in January -- not a significant shift
from the 17% measured in early December before the bill's passage,
although the past couple of months are up from the 2017 nadir of 13% recorded
in October and November. The current reading roughly matches the
monthly average for all of 2017 but is well below the 28% monthly high point last year,
which was measured in February after Trump was inaugurated, giving the
GOP control of the presidency and Congress.
As was the case for their views of the tax law, Republicans' positive
views of Congress rose modestly in January, to 37% from December's
29%. The current approval rating among Republicans is the highest since
readings of 50% and 43% in February and March of last year.
Congress approval among independents also increased, by six points in January,
while Democrats' approval rating dropped two points to 9%, the lowest
among that group since early 2014.
Bottom Line
The tax reform bill passed into law in December was among the most far-reaching
pieces of legislation in decades -- and the signature accomplishment of
Congress last year. But so far, there has been little overall change in
Americans' majority disapproval of the law or in their views of Congress.
The law's passage did appear to spark a modest improvement in Republicans'
views of Congress, although it did nothing to affect the quite negative
attitudes of Democrats. Similarly, Republicans' views of the law itself
edged up from a month ago when it was still being debated, but a majority
of all Americans continue to disapprove.
Trump and Republican leaders predict that public attitudes toward the law
(and presumably toward Congress and the president) will improve once its
monetary impact shows up in workers' paychecks in the months ahead.
If there is any anticipation of that eventuality among Americans, it is
not highly evident in the available data so far.
Survey Methods
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted
Jan. 2-7, 2018, with a random sample of 1,024 adults, aged 18 and older,
living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error
is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For results
based on the samples of Republicans, independents and Democrats, the margins
of sampling error are between ± 6 and ±8 percentage points
at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include
computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone
respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas
by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are
selected using random-digit-dial methods.
