The USPS was viewed as doing an excellent job by 16 percent and a good job by 40 percent, versus the 30 percent who viewed it as doing only a fair job and the 13 percent viewing it as doing a poor job, with the rest having no opinion. Image: photosince/Shutterstock.com
The USPS was the only federal agency overall rated more positively than negatively by the public in the latest version of an annual poll by the Gallup organization, while rating of six major agencies—FEMA, CIA, CDC, FDA, EPA and IRS—”have deteriorated markedly since last year” and are now at or near their lows over more than 20 years of the poll.
The poll, conducted last month before the partial government shutdown, for example showed FEMA’s positive rating down 20 points, the CIA’s down 10, the CDC’s down nine, the FDA and EPA down seven and the IRS down six. In the poll, a positive rating is one in which the agency is viewed as doing an excellent or good job, while a negative rating is one in which the agency is viewed as doing a poor or only fair job.
The USPS was viewed as doing an excellent job by 16 percent and a good job by 40 percent, versus the 30 percent who viewed it as doing only a fair job and the 13 percent viewing it as doing a poor job, with the rest having no opinion.
DHS had the highest “excellent” rating, followed by USPS and DoD (also called War, with legislation pending to officially change the name) tied at 16, NASA at 14 and the Secret Service and CDC at 11. With a 32 percent “good” rating, DoD’s overall 48 percent positive total fell slightly below its 50 percent negative total, consisting of 28 percent seeing it as doing an only fair job and 22 percent seeing it as doing a poor one.
The lowest-rated of the 17 agencies in the survey was the VA, at only 25 percent positive vs. 73 percent negative, with the rest having no opinion. The CDC and Justice Department had the highest “poor” rating, 42 percent, with FDA and VA t 39 percent and EPA at 38 percent.
As did another recent similar poll, the survey found that partisanship is a major factor in how agencies are perceived. “Republicans’ views of most agencies have improved since last year, while Democrats’ have worsened. These partisan swings suggest both politics and performance drive confidence in government,” a summary said.
“As a result, majorities of Republicans now rate the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) positively, whereas no agency earned majority-level support from Republicans a year ago,” it said.
The largest perception gaps by party were for DHS, DoD, Justice, State and Secret Service.
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