Americans are more likely to support reducing federal spending in general than increasing it — but to support increased spending on each of a host of major budget areas, including Social Security, Medicare, aid to the poor, and national defense.
What you need to know about Americans' views on taxes and government spending, as of the February 6 - 9, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- 28% of Americans say they want to increase federal spending slightly or a lot, and 43% want to decrease federal spending, while 16% want to keep it the same
- But majorities support increasing government spending on veterans (74%), Social Security (69%), Medicare (67%), aid to the poor (64%), Medicaid (59%), and the environment (52%)
- Increased spending also is more popular than decreasing spending for colleges and universities (34% support an increase in spending and 29% a decrease) and national defense (34% vs. 26%)
- Only for two of the 10 spending areas asked about is there more support for decreasing spending than for increasing it: ICE (27% support an increase in spending and 49% a decrease) and foreign aid (21% vs. 49%)
- Americans' preferences for overall taxes are similar to their preferences for most specific taxes
- 19% of Americans want the government to increase the total amount of taxes it collects slightly or a lot, while 50% want to decrease taxes and 18% to keep them the same
- Similar or slightly lower shares want to increase five of six taxes asked about: the capital gains tax (24%), tariffs (15%), Social Security tax (13%), the personal income tax (12%), and the Medicare tax (11%)
- The only one of six taxes asked for which more Americans support an increase than support a decrease is the corporate income tax: 49% want an increase and 18% a decrease
- While there is broad support for lowering many types of tax, most Americans (60%) say the amount billionaires are taxed is either much too low (49%) or somewhat too low (12%); 16% of Americans say billionaires are taxed about right and 6% say billionaires' taxes are either much too high (3%) or somewhat too high (3%)
- Net favorability — meaning the share of Americans with very or somewhat favorable opinions minus the share with unfavorable opinions — is negative for six of the seven billionaires asked about on the poll: Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, George Soros, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg. Warren Buffett is the only billionaire asked about with positive net favorability
- Net favorability of Musk is much higher among Republicans than among Democrats. Republicans also hold more favorable views than Democrats of Bezos and Zuckerberg
- Soros, Gates, and Bloomberg are rated more positively by Democrats than by Republicans
Image: Getty (Chip Somodevilla / Staff)
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