Got views on DOJ or ICE? Depends on your political party
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Republicans most favor Democrats' least favored government agency: ICE. It's only one example of a widening partisan gap in how Americans view key government agencies, a new Pew Research poll found.
Why it matters: Beyond majority approval of the National Park Service and Veterans Affairs, Democrats and Republicans diverge sharply in their views of agencies tied to immigration, law enforcement, and public health.
Case in point: Last year, Democrats rated the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) more favorably than Republicans.
- The August poll found that 68% of Republicans view the department positively, compared to 26% of Democrats.
- The Trump administration has implemented an aggressive immigration crackdown through DHS and its subsidiary ICE, holding a record 60,000 immigrants in long-term detention while signing more deals to arrest immigrants to meet the administration's unprecedented detention quotas.
By the numbers: 51% of Republicans and GOP-leaning voters view the Justice Department favorably — up 18 points from last year.
- Only 28% of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters hold that view, down 27 points from last year.
- Views of the FBI have shifted along similar partisan lines.
Yes, but: Some agencies still get relatively bipartisan approval — including the National Weather Service, the Postal Service, and the Park Service.
Between the lines: Americans' views of DHS and DOJ typically rise when their party controls the White House, Pew notes. But the partisan gaps have widened markedly since 2020.
Methodology: The Pew Research Center surveyed 3,554 adults through Aug. 4-10, and the results do not include "not sure" and no answer responses. The margin of sampling error is +/- 1.8 percentage points.
Go deeper: Republicans and Democrats see starkly different U.S. realities
