According to a new poll conducted by Elon University, North Carolinians don’t favor the elimination of, or major cutbacks at, the more than one dozen federal agencies now being targeted for reduction by President Donald Trump and the new Department of Government Efficiency – an effort being led by multi-billionaire Elon Musk. (No relation.)
The survey, which was conducted in early March, looked at opinions from a representative sample of 800 North Carolina adults. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
When participants were asked about funding for 14 specific federal agencies, a plurality of North Carolinians said they favor only minor reductions or no change at all for them.
For half of the agencies asked about, respondents said they would actually support more funding instead of reductions or elimination.
When it came to the US Department of Education, 33% favored increased funding, compared to 25% who favored the elimination of, or major reductions at, that department.
Similarly, 35% of those participating wanted to see more funding for the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Only 10% favored major reductions for the VA.
Also, less than 20% of those participating in the poll were in favor of major reductions at, or the elimination of, the National Weather Service, US Department of Agriculture, Defense Department, Department of Justice, Centers for Disease Control, Department of the Interior, National Institutes of Health, and the FBI.
Republicans were generally more in favor of major cutbacks – with 41% of Republicans favoring the elimination of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), compared with only 2% of Democrats. That program battles disease and addresses other problems in struggling countries around the world.
According to the poll, 38% of Republicans favored the elimination of the US Department of Education and 30% favored elimination of public broadcasting – that is, PBS and NPR – compared with only 2% of Democrats favoring the elimination of either of those agencies.
Jason Husser, the director of the Elon University poll, said, “Our poll results suggest that Democratic efforts to rally public support around the Department of Education are having some impact in North Carolina.”
The poll found that 51% of those responding favored an increase in US Department of Education funding (compared with 16% of Republicans favoring increased funding), and 51% favoring increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control (compared with 10% of Republicans favoring increased funding).
A good portion of both Democrats and Republicans favored increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, including 43% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans. In assessing the impact of a reduction in federal spending and federal employees and the elimination of research grants, 44% said there would be a very negative or somewhat negative impact in North Carolina. That’s compared to 34% who expect to see a positive impact. A majority of Democrats – 76% – expect negative fallout from the federal spending cuts. That compares with 64% of Republicans who expect a positive impact to result.
The poll also asked about DOGE and Elon Musk: 51% said they don’t believe Musk is working in the best interests of the public in his stated effort to promote government efficiency. On the other hand, 40% said they trusted in the tech billionaire’s efforts.
Among Democrats, 85% said they either completely or somewhat distrust Musk, while 76% of Republicans “completely” or “somewhat” trust him.
Only 34% of poll respondents said they expect that there will be a major reduction in overall federal government spending within a few years; 45% expect no change or a minor reduction in overall spending, with 21% expecting to see government spending increase in that time frame.
Half of North Carolinians questioned in the poll support NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s decision to join other attorneys general from 18 other states in filing a lawsuit to stop DOGE from accessing US Treasury Department records that contain personal information on millions of Americans.
In the poll, 28% opposed Jackson’s decision and 22% were unsure.
Husser commented in a statement on the results: “Though polls have found for decades that the public is skeptical about the overall federal bureaucracy, we are not finding unified support for budget cuts when it comes to specific parts of the bureaucracy. Rather, for functions like Veteran Affairs, we are finding a large majority of people in the key swing state of North Carolina wanting to see funding maintained or increased. Society is experiencing the disconnect between a desire to see less federal spending in the abstract and the reality that many of the agencies and departments are engaged in work that is broadly popular.”
As for Immigration, North Carolinians in the poll were evenly split over the impact of the Trump administration’s actions to deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally. There was a split down the middle of those who expect to see positive and negative effects on the nation’s economy and their local workforce resulting from the deportations.
Nearly 40% of North Carolina residents said the impact of the Trump administration’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the local workforce where they live – while 37% said the impact would be negative. In the poll, 9% said there wouldn’t be any impact, and 15% said they didn’t know what would occur.
The Elon University poll found that 63% of those responding would support a program to provide undocumented immigrants living in the United States with a pathway to become citizens if they meet certain requirements such as background checks and paying any fines and taxes they owed. That’s a reduction in support from a 2013 Elon University Poll when 80% of those polled supported providing undocumented immigrants with a pathway to citizenship.
The university compared the current results with an Elon University poll on immigration conducted in 2013 and the findings were similar on the issue. In both polls, 51% said immigrants are “a benefit to North Carolina” due to their hard work and job skills. In 2013, 37% said immigrants were “a burden” in the state since they use public services. In the 2025 Elon University Poll, that percentage has dropped to 31%.
When it comes to the matter of Trump’s job approval, the poll found that, for this, his second term in office, 45% of North Carolinians disapproved of his job performance with 42% approving.
Trump’s disapproval ratings were – no surprise – highest among Democrats (87%).
As for other disapproval ratings by group, they fall in like this: Blacks (74%), women (51%) and those with four-year college degrees (51%).
Trump’s approval ratings were highest among Republicans (83%), whites (52%) and men (51%).
Trump’s approval ratings in the new poll are the same as they were in a poll taken by Elon University soon after Trump took office in 2017. In that April 2017 poll, 51% of North Carolinians disapproved of Trump’s job performance, while 42% approved of his performance at that time.
“On the surface it might seem surprising that President Trump’s approval rating is slightly negative in North Carolina, despite him winning the state by three points less than five months ago,” Husser said. “I attribute much of this gap to the switch from a campaign style focused on being the outsider promising disruption of the status quo, to the reality since January 20 of leading the party in charge and lacking the immediate foil of a Democratic incumbent.”
Elon should have been out actually questioning the people out and around Alamance County and Guilford County instead of just around the college. That is why the poll shows what it does. They did not actually reach out be on the college area. It is well known that Elon college is more on the Democratic side so therefore they are going to say that. I don’t think that pool was fair and I think Elon should redo it. They need to actually go out and reach the people instead of just the college area which is already biased against trump.
A ‘representative sample’ means they polled people well beyond just those around the college. It was a statewide survey and sample size was established as a subset of a population that accurately reflects the characteristics of the State. Hope that helps you understand the data accuracy better.
But you be you
If what you write is accurate, Elon should provide the provide the data of the ones interviewed: geographic location, sex, ages, race, party affiliation, and the method Elon used to select those interviewed. There are so many ways to skew a survey.
They aren’t open ended questions, normally just multiple-choice questions. I am willing to bet you can find the study on their website with more detail about the population surveyed and the methodology used to statistically validate the survey. Or you can just not trust it and move on with your own personal biased view (which we all have…not intended to be an insult) of the circumstances and not worry about what other people think. Not a big deal really.
Statistics was one of the most challenging courses in my college career. There can be so many flaws in surveys that the effect can invalidate the results.
If you can’t handle the math, it makes sense you stick your head in the sand. You be you.
The Elon University website shows the poll taken in March 2025 was a representative sample of 800 adults. No other descriptives of these adults. Were they from across the state. Who knows, they don’t say.
Let’s see the actual summary of data and the question set on this poll with a larger than usual margin of error.
People were interviewed across the state. You believe that the campus is overly liberal and skewing the data. While that may be true for Alamance County, you’re suffering the same delusion for the state. Alamance county is overly conservative, when compared with the rest of the state. Leave your echo chamber, leave Alamance county and look around. You’ll see that this is indeed representative of the state.
How do you know this? Were you party to formalizing the survey and then interpreting the result?
Well if it is then people are not paying attention to the waste and fraud at usaid
Very good point Pat
Well I am for all the cuts, for all the inappropriate spending and for us taxpayers to get some relief. I was not surveyed. But I am all for all that DOGE is doing. It’s unreal the corruption we have been victim to. Thank God Trump won and I pray people who are brainwashed by the lies of the MSM will do some research and wake up. Our government is bloated, greedy and term limits and voter id must happen or we are Doomed. So survey no survey. Results will matter in the end.
You do reallize the left says the same about the people brainwashed by foxnews?
And fyi, spending is up. Not down. And the republican budget increases the budget deficit, not lowers it.
* Elon University’s polling is always “push polling”, designed to produce a left wing result.
It can’t be believed.
Deny, deny, deny….cry out that it’s a fraud…build a conspiracy theory to reject anything that doesn’t feed their agenda and biased beliefs! That’s how conservatives discuss topics. Thanks for sharing such a fine example on conservative debate methodology, Austin.
Go Eff yourself.
The results if this poll indicates more about why we are better served as a representative democracy. Too often, individuals have opinions based on emotion instead of facts. It is quite telling that so many people disagree with reducing bureaucratic spending and bloated staffing in the face of out of control debt.
I think it is more about HOW they are reducing spending and WHY they are reducing spending. It isn’t about debt reduction. It is about giving more tax relief to Wealthy tax dodgers such as Trump and Musk.
Just a reminder that Trump plans to INCREASE the deficit, not reduce it. All while tanking the economy.
Maybe, but that is mind reading, is it not?
No. The method they are using is a ‘cost carve out’ type of spend reduction method. Common in corporations when market shocks require quick action to maintain financial stability of a stock. Eliminating waste and fraud requires more the approach of audit or operational analysis methods, which isn’t happening here. There was no fraud in USAID. Conservatives just don’t like spending money to help others other than themselves.
Not complicated.
Good points! NOTHING has been said where the “savings” is going. To the Treasury, where it belongs? To pay down the deficit? Because of this and the “tariffs” is there no tax relief? Think of it as a shell game and the American tax payer gets nothing in return for being told we have been cheated once again.
I do find it interesting that anyone would support the Dept of Education. Clearly those that indicated support for this organization do not understand the dramatic fall from grace that our nation’s educational system has undergone. We spend more more per pupil than other similar countries and yet our outcomes are abysmal. Sadly, the same can be said for our healthcare system.
I am strongly in favor of bringing rationality and efficiency to the government. I do believe that the cuts that are being proposed and executed on should be based on solid evidence.
For context, I am a white male with a graduate degree.
Our university outcomes are rather impressive. But sure, we need improvement to our public k-12 system. But don’t worry, we have cut the legs out from under our university systems too so they can fail as well while also cutting off the innovation that drives a big part of our economy.
wut is your age, gender,marital status, golf handicap, shoe size & mythology . . . for additional context . . . are u now or have you EVER worn a kilt ? is the graduate degree in a STEM field ? have you read ANYTHING by james joyce ! ? at what temperature & pressure is the evidence ‘solid’ considering relativistic effects ?
He who pays for a study usually get’s the results they want. This is a good case of liberal indoctrination.
He who don’t trust math just continue to believe whatever they want. This is a good example of conservative cult culture.
Remember, the first sign you are in a cult is that they tell you everyone else is lying.
But you be you.
Yup! The college professors and college kids at Elon are like the Board of Directors at NPR : 100% Leftist.
They engineer the result they want.
Oh no, people don’t have the same point of view as you…..you better trash them and wish harm on them quick!!!
If the poll had been conducted by Hillsdale College or Liberty University, you would be the first one to trash it.
——
And I wish harm on nobody. Never said anything remotely like that.
You always try to smear those who disagree with you by putting hateful words in their mouths. It’s sly and sneaky – but then, so are you.
Nope. Surveys are agreat way to gage opinions. Key is understanding sampling methodology and the wording of questions. Liberty University or other such conservative founded schools surveys
I would read with interest the same as Elon. You are projecting…..a.classic conservative cult trait. Don’t assume I think with the same bigoted bias as you do.
You like smearing other people, don’t you Chrissy? You call me a bigot, you say Term Limits is too stupid to understand math (above), and conservatives “don’t like spending money to help others other than themselves” (sic).
And all that nastiness is only the comments you have made on this thread.
Does it ever occur to you that you are a real asshole?
PS Conservatives give much more generously to charities than Leftists.
Austin, you are a bigot. You are very open that LGBTQ people are deviants and people from Africa are less intelligent etc…..
If you find word Bigot unattractive label for yourself, may learn to have a deeper understanding of people who are different than yourself.
But you be you.
The facts on USAID actual spending don’t support the measured opinions, leading me to believe we have low information mainstream media opinions in the poll. If this represents the whole state, we deserve the bankruptcy these opinions promote.
You do realize that Trumps budget proposal ADDs to the deficit! This DOGE BS has nothing to do will fiscal responsibility. Just think, we spend $3 billion a day on our national debt. These cuts mean nothing. Yet Trump wants to cut revenue far more than he is cutting spending. It is all a sham and MAGA nutters are buying into to it hook line and sinker.
Chris, the primary reveal of DOGE is how corrupt our federal government is. All the lies told, all the deception, tax money spent on unbelievably stupid stuff. If DOGE had not discovered the deceit, I would otherwise have found it hard to believe. I wondered how the Democrat Party had so much money in its coffers. Now we know. The money was stolen from taxpayers and given to the Democrats. While it is good to know about the money saved, the most important thing is learning the depth of fraud perpetrated by government employees. I will wager that 99% of the USAID money was one big scam and the money made its way into the pockets of Democrat politicians and their supporters. What DOGE should do now is follow the money and learn who actually received it.
You do realize that a great deal of the information coming from DOGE is a lie? There are NOT billions of dollars being paid out of SS to dead people over 130 years old. He is just cutting ‘willy nilly’ across departments that conservatives don’t like. Like the EPA, CDC, etc…. Show me any significant fraud found by DOGE. There is none. Just an anti-science blow hard eliminating jobs that most of you don’t even know what they do.
You wager but you certainly don’t know. The sign of a true conspiracy nutter.
Remember, the first sign you are in a cult is that they tell you everyone else is lying.
But you be you
What lies has DOGE told? Please be specific. As far as your reference to dead people on SS rolls, at no time or place did DOGE, President Trump, or anyone say payments were being made. If you know otherwise, please let readers know when and where this was reported.
Lied about massive fraud in the social security system
Lied that Taylor Jones had a contract with the fed for $10 million, when the only had a 100k contract
Lied about Politico subscriptions
Lied when his list contained an $8 billion dollar ICE contract that was only $8 million
Lied about the Department of Defense making a $9 million payment to Reuters for a “large scale social deception” project (didn’t happen – it was actually issued to Thomson Reuters Special Services—the data and research arm of Reuters, not the newsroom)
Lied about Fema spending $59 Million on housing migrants In Nyc luxury hotels
Lied about anti-DOGE protests being paid for by the same corrupt NGOs that @DOGE is defunding (he has zero evidence of this)
I could go on if you like?
Foxnews said he said millions of people receiving SS over the age of 100.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6368990701112
So did all the other news organizations but I am betting you only trust Foxnews. So there ya go.
If the sampling was legit, I am concerned that people just want to throw more money into a FAILING SCHOOL SYSTEM. These people obviously ‘learnt’ education in those FAILING SCHOOLS. There is a reason FOREIGN STUDENTS CONSISTENTLY AND REPEATEDLY BEAT US STUDENTS. Money alone does not solve a problem. IT TAKES LOCAL CONTROL of schools, NOT FEDERAL CONTROL! LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS CAN REACT MORE QUICKLY THAN FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS. LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS WILL RESPOND MORE QUICKLY TO LOCAL VOTERS WHO CAN DEMAND BETTER SCHOOLS AND BETTER EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR THEIR KIDS!
As you get old(er), do you really want your kids to control everything you do? Of course not. But today’s uneducated kids will be tomorrow’s leaders. Kids must learn how to read, write, know math and science, learn civics and history including the good, bad and ugly of our history. If they don’t, they will make the same mistakes over and over again. Is that what you want for you, your kids and grandchildren? I didn’t think so.
LOCAL CONTROL MEANS LOCAL CONTROL. When it comes to education, ANY AMOUNT OF FEDERAL CONTROL MEANS LESS CONTROL FOR YOU. Now is a great time to remember what President Reagan said were the 9 most terrifying words you could ever hear…I am for the government and here to help. When it comes to who controls the type and quality of education or what is taught….NO THANK YOU!
By the way, when people talk about federal tax money, somehow they forget that the federal government HAS NO MONEY EXCEPT THE MONEY THEY TAKE FROM YOU IN TAXES. So it is NOT FEDERAL MONEY…IT IS YOUR MONEY. YOU SHOULD DECIDE HOW YOUR MONEY IS SPENT ON EDUCATION.
Liberal Randi Weingarten’s AFL-CIO teachers stayed home during COVID and refused to go back into the classroom. The well documented result was that our poorly educated kids fell even farther behind. Weingarten doesn’t care. Her only concern is about the teachers union and her power as their leader. She is truly pathetic and probably ‘learnt’ her facts in the public schools and from teachers she now fights to control.
LOCAL CONTROL, LOCAL CONTROL, LOCAL CONTROL is the ONLY WAY to properly educate kids. GET RIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. Without all the staff, pensions and buildings to support, MORE MONEY SHOULD COME TO LOCAL SCHOOLS…WHERE IT BELONGS.
Sometimes that’s not enough or at other times it could be to much. Either way it’s over thinking our ED department! We need better education not less@
Sometimes that’s not enough or at other times it could be to much. Either way it’s over thinking our ED department! We need better education not less!
Don’t let Chris near a Tesla
LOL! Good one.
look who wants to protect EVs now. LMAO
No, we just think damaging other people’s property is wrong.
Leftists – who always claim the moral high ground – show their true colors when they destroy cars (and babies).
Oh, unless that property is the US Capitol building? Got it.
Hilarious and sad that “any” so called poll would not be in favor of what DOGE is doing for America. Just shows how uneducated and disconnected people are.
So does your comment.
Universities drive the US leadership in innovation and scientific discoveries largely supported by federal grants
USAID drives US soft power influence around the world that we have now handed off to China
Government regulations are what protect our environment, public health, and labor rights etc…
Gutting those functions make America Worse. Not greater.
The President’s agenda is in the right place, but his hand is heavy & clumsy. There is a cacaphony of hollering from all those on the dole, and they will vote. Mid-terms will be Fall 2026.
The Marxist/Socialist/Bernie party WANTS this administration to fail, the Republic be damned.
The left doesn’t want this administration to fail. It’s just that his agenda of Tariffs and gutting government functions is GUARANTEED to make his administration fail as those actions will all hurt the average American. Not make America better.
So yeah, our only hope is a giant blue wave in the mid-terms. Looks like we are headed that way unless Trump wakes up to the destruction his is causing the US economy with his tariffs (tax on Americans).
But you be you.
Let me guess. Your poll is being conducted in Greensboro (70% Democrat), Durham (85% Democrat), Charlotte (75% Democrat), Raleigh (70-75% Democrat), Wilmington (65-70% Democrat) –need I go on? The vast majority of North Carolinians actually DO favor what DOGE and Pres. Trump are doing, or are you still in denial of the fact NC was RED for Trump on Nov. 5? Pres. Trump promised these cuts during the campaign and in 2 terms, he has yet to not keep a campaign promise. Stop putting out weighted polls and promoting the results as being factual. Over 70% of this nation supports DOGE and the cuts being made by Pres. Trump and his Cabinet.
The article points out that the poll was representative of the State. Which is majority conservative or independent.
CUT,CUT,CUT to the bone.
To be clear, the Trump strategy is to cut benefits for Americans, increases taxes on Americans via tariffs and tank what little investments you have by crashing the economy.
Good luck with that.
I support DOGE…..sure there may be some mistakes but there is obviously a ton of fraud and corruption.
Prosecute the ones that committed fraud……they knew they were doing it and it will stop. I am counting on Pam
Bondi.
None of this was new ideas but talk turned into action thanks to Trump’s leadership.
We have to start somewhere before America goes bankrupt….printing money does not work.
What fraud? They have yet to find any other than their own fraudulent statements about SS?
What waste? So far, it is just the cutting of programs and departments that handle aid to under privileged or foreign countries in need.
What is the ‘obvious’ fraud and waste you speak of?
They must have polled mostly low information voters. More money on the Department of Education, that educates no one? Insanity!
Yep. Can’t you hear those “educators” whining to their students about the evil Trump Administration for abolishing the Dept. of Education? The kids have been perfectly brainwashed, and the “educators” have done the brainwashing. And then these people decide to conduct a poll.
Gee, I wonder what the result will be…
LOL! Quite a sample size… 800 people out of over 11 million. That’s 0.0073%. Seems trustworthy…
Oops. Somebody doesn’t understand statistics.
a recent poll suggests more than 14% of people are happy !