Majority of US government agencies receive poor job-performance ratings
- Only 4 of 16 government agencies have majority approval in 2023
- USPS, Secret Service, Defense, NASA have the top positive ratings
- Most agencies were rated "fair" or "poor"
FILE – The Capitol in Washington, is seen at sunrise, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. On one side of the U.S. Capitol, two senators have steered the debate over government funding mostly clear of partisan fights, clearing a path for bills to pass with bipartisan momentum. Steps away, on the House side of the building, things couldn’t be more different. House Republicans, trying to win support from the far-right wing of the party, have loaded up their government funding packages with funding cuts and conservative policy priorities. Democrats have responded with ire, branding their GOP counterparts as extreme and bigoted and withdrawing support for the legislation.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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(NewsNation) — Only four out of 16 federal government agencies and departments received positive performance ratings from most Americans in 2023, according to a Gallup survey.
This marks the third consecutive year of relatively low ratings.
The agencies that earned positive evaluations with more than half of U.S. adults rating them as “excellent” or “good” include:
- The U.S. Postal Service with 62%
- The Secret Service with 55%
- The Department of Defense with 53%
- NASA with 52%
On the flip side, the other 12 government agencies received ratings such as “only fair” or “poor.” The IRS received the lowest regard, with only 30%, while agencies like the Veterans Administration (VA), Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Reserve Board, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had ratings ranging from 32% to 38%.
Gallup has been periodically gauging Americans’ opinions of various federal agencies and departments since 2003, with NASA being tracked since 1990. However, for about half of these agencies, the trends started in 2009 or later. Between 2019 and 2021, many agency ratings experienced a significant decline, and none have yet fully recovered to their pre-pandemic levels.
USPS stands out as the only agency among the 16 that has consistently maintained positive majority-level ratings since 2003.
These poor agency ratings coincide with a period of reduced satisfaction regarding the direction of the country and a lack of confidence in U.S. institutions.
