More Americans are concerned about political corruption

More Americans believe there is corruption in the U.S. government than at any point in the past two decades, new polling shows.

Research published by Gallup in September shows that nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults — 89%, the highest figure since the organization began consistent polling on the issue in 2006 — believe corruption in government is widespread, up from 59% in 2006 and 73% in 2024. The belief holds across party lines: 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents and 83% of Republicans view corruption as widespread, according to the survey.

Separate polling by left-of-center strategy group Navigator Research found that 81% of Americans believe government corruption is hitting them in the wallet: 86% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 79% of Republicans said corruption is driving up their costs.

Both sets of survey results were published as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to shatter norms of ethical behavior in public office.

Trump has threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of television networks whose coverage he disliked; been accused of self-dealing when the administration approved plans for a Trump family cryptocurrency venture to become a bank; and accepted a $400 million airplane from the Qatari government despite the prohibition in the Constitution against a government official receiving foreign gifts without congressional approval.

A recent television advertisement put out by the White House appeared to celebrate the president. The ad, set to the song “Love Me” by the performer JSMN, prominently displayed the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”  

The advertisement may be in violation of the Hatch Act, which bans most federal employees from participating in partisan political activities, said Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin in a post on Sept. 24.

Faith Williams, senior policy manager for anti-corruption and accountability at the nonpartisan group Common Cause, said voters are right to be concerned.

“Government corruption is widespread, and it is raising their costs personally, and it is responsible,” she said in a phone interview. “Other majorities of the public believe that corruption is responsible for problems that government has failed to solve, and for dysfunctional public services, and for why ultimately it can be harder to put food on the table and gas in the car and all of that. But it’s also not inevitable, and it’s a trend we can reverse.”

Williams said that while 73% of Americans survey by Gallup in 2024 said government corruption was widespread, there’s a reason for the 16% rise over the past two years. 

“Potentially, that number growing is more of an understanding of the public of how corruption impacts affordability for them,” she said. “I think that’s something that we’ve all been learning more about the last few years, and so maybe it was important before, but it felt super discrete from affordability issues, and now perhaps we’re better understanding how they fit together.”

While corruption is not a new problem, Williams said, the second Trump term has stood out in finding innovative ways to do things that are illegal and others that are technically legal but objectionable all the same: “We have seen so much innovation. Every week it seems like there’s some new scheme that comes from the executive branch.”

“President Trump’s innovation is a blueprint,” she said. “It’s a blueprint for future presidents of both parties. So if we don’t want a future Republican president or a future Democratic president selling early access to government information, we need to nip it in the bud now.”

Common Cause has proposed several possible solutions to the problem of government corruption, including a ban on a president earning any outside income during his term in office. “I don’t think there is one silver bullet. But we need big, bold bipartisan solutions like that,” Williams said. 

Polling by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice shows broad support for many anti-corruption measures: 90% of Democrats, 86% of independents and 76% of Republicans surveyed this year favored barring presidents from having conflicts of interest and holding them to the same ethics standards as other federal employees. Similar numbers of respondents supported creating a new government ethics agency to enforce federal anti-corruption standards, with the power to issue binding rules and sue violators.

Somewhat smaller majorities — 83% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 54% of Republicans — back a constitutional amendment limiting presidential pardon power and allowing Congress to reverse some pardons.