Americans want Medicaid and food stamps funding maintained or increased,
AP-NORC poll shows
[June 17, 2025]
By LINLEY SANDERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republican senators consider President Donald
Trump’s big bill that could slash federal spending and extend tax cuts,
a new survey shows most U.S. adults don’t think the government is
overspending on the programs the GOP has focused on cutting, like
Medicaid and food stamps.
Americans broadly support increasing or maintaining existing levels of
funding for popular safety net programs, including Social Security and
Medicare, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center
for Public Affairs Research. They're more divided on spending around the
military and border security, and most think the government is spending
too much on foreign aid.
The poll points to a disconnect between Republicans’ policy agenda and
public sentiment around the domestic programs that are up for debate in
the coming weeks.
Here’s the latest polling data on how Americans view federal funding:
Most want Medicaid and SNAP funding increased or kept as is
Many Americans see Medicaid and food assistance programs as underfunded
— even as Congress proposes significant cuts to Medicaid and food and
nutrition assistance programs — and few say “too much” money is going to
these programs.
About half of U.S. adults say “too little” funding goes to Medicaid,
which is a government health care coverage program for low-income people
and people with certain disabilities. Nearly half, 45%, say food and
nutrition assistance programs like food stamps, SNAP or EBT cards are
underfunded, according to the poll. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults in each
case say those programs are receiving “about the right amount” of
funding, indicating that most Americans likely do not want to see
significant cuts to the two programs.
About 2 in 10 say Medicaid is overfunded, while about one-quarter say
that about food assistance programs.
Republicans are especially likely to say “too much” is spent on food and
nutrition assistance programs when compared with Democrats and
independents — 46% of Republicans say this, compared with about 1 in 10
Democrats and independents.
When it comes to Medicaid, fewer Republicans, about one-third, say the
government is spending “too much.”
Many believe Medicare, Social Security and education are underfunded
About 6 in 10 Americans say there is not enough government money going
toward Social Security, Medicare or education broadly. But Democrats
overwhelmingly think “too little” money is allocated to these areas,
while Republicans are happier with the status quo.
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Very few think Medicare, Social Security and education are getting
“too much” funding. Only about 1 in 10 Republicans say this about
either Medicare or Social Security. Roughly one-quarter of
Republicans say too much is spent on education.
When it comes to Social Security, about half of Republicans say “too
little” is spent, compared with about 7 in 10 Democrats.
Americans are divided on money for border security and the
military
Americans are more divided on whether the government is devoting too
much money to the military or border security.
About 3 in 10 say the government is spending “too much” on the
military, while a similar share say the government is spending “too
little.” Close to 4 in 10 say the government is spending “about the
right amount.”
Republicans are much less likely to say “too little” is being spent
on border security than they were before Trump took office again in
January. Now, 45% of Republicans say “too little” is being spent,
down from 79% in a January AP-NORC poll.
On the other hand, Democrats are more likely to say that “too much”
is being spent on border security. About half of Democrats now say
this, compared with about 3 in 10 in January.
Most US adults say foreign aid gets too much funding
The Trump administration has asked Congress for deep reductions to
foreign aid programs, including cuts to global health programs and
refugee resettlement initiatives.
Foreign aid is one area with more general agreement that there is
“too much” federal spending. Most U.S. adults, 56%, say the U.S.
government is spending too much on assistance to other countries,
which is down from 69% in an AP-NORC poll from March 2023.
There is a deep partisan divide on the issue, though. About 8 in 10
Republicans say the country is overspending on foreign aid, compared
with about one-third of Democrats.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,158 adults was conducted June 5-9, using a
sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which
is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin
of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage
points.
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