Many Americans trust federal agencies

Washington DC, April 12, 2023—While most Americans trust federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, trust among these agencies is often split by party, according to findings of a new Ipsos poll released Wednesday. Republicans feel that these federal agencies do the bidding of partisan political figures, while many Democrats believe they operate independently.
Separately, Americans hold the most favorable opinion of firefighters and nurses and hold the least favorable opinion of politicians among 24 professions polled by Ipsos. Outside of that, few Americans have tried AI programs in the past month.

Detailed Findings:

Many Americans trust federal agencies, but there are some differences when looking at party affiliation, with Republicans overall less trusting of these agencies.

• Ipsos tested five federal agencies that are frequently in the news. Among these, over half of all Americans trust the information, news, or guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (58%), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (57%), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) (55%). Two percent of Americans do not know the FDA or CDC, while 6% don’t know the DOT.
• Slightly fewer Americans trust the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (48%) and the Federal Reserve (the Fed) (47%). For the VA, 13% don’t know the organization, while 4% of Americans don’t know the Fed.
• Among the federal agencies that Ipsos tested, trust differs substantially by partisanship, with fewer than half of Republicans trusting the DOT (44%), the FDA (40%), the Federal Reserve (32%), and the CDC (30%). The Department of Veterans Affairs is the only agency trusted by at least half of Republicans (52%).
• On the other hand, most Democrats trust each of the federal agencies tested. Among the five agencies, Democrats trust the VA the least, with only half of Democrats (51%) trusting this agency. This is largely driven by people not knowing this organization.

That may be because Republicans are more likely to feel that these federal agencies do the bidding of partisan political figures and are less likely to see them as working independently.

• Majorities of Republicans feel that that the FDA, DOT, the Fed, the CDC, and VA do the bidding of partisan political figures. While fewer Democrats agree, a plurality still feels this way too.
• Republicans are much less likely than Democrats to feel that these agencies are guided by facts and science or provide an important public service.

Separately, Americans have the most favorable opinion of firefighters (97%) and nurses (96%), and the least favorable opinion of politicians (25%).

• Regardless of partisanship, all Americans hold a favorable view of essential workers, such as firefighters, nurses, doctors, teachers, and members of the armed services.

In the last month, relatively few Americans used an AI program compared to internet search or social media.

• Less than one in five Americans have interacted with an artificial intelligence (AI) chat program (15%), an AI assisted internet program (12%), or an AI image generation system (8%) in the last month.
• By comparison, in the last month, 89% of Americas used an internet search engine, and 73% used social media during that same time frame.

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted March 10 – 12, 2023, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,026 general population adults age 18 or older, 291 Republican interviews, 291 Democrat interviews, and 321 independent interviews.

The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.18 for all respondents. The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 6.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the sample of Republican adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.10 for all Republican respondents. The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 6.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the sample of Democratic adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.17 for all Democratic respondents. The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 5.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the sample of independent adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.11 for all independent respondents

In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2022 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

Our tagline "Game Changers" sums up our ambition to help our 5,000 customers move confidently through a rapidly changing world.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and Mid-60 indices and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com