(CN) – A majority of independent voters disapprove of the way President Donald Trump and the GOP are dealing with the budget deficit, according to a poll released Friday.
Despite a growing economy – Trump touted the 4.1 percent second-quarter growth at a rally in Florida last week – massive government spending has independents leery of the administration’s budget management skills.
In its annual budget review in June, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget estimated in the federal deficit is on track to surpass $1 trillion next year, offsetting a record low 3.8 percent unemployment and the strongest economy in years.
The figure represents a whopping 5.1 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and would trigger forced austerity measures if we were a member state of the European Union. It’s also a level only seen previously during times of unemployment over 10 percent and after deep recessions. In this case, however, the ballooning deficit is due to two factors: Trump’s enormous tax cut, passed by the GOP-controlled Congress this year, and a congressional spending spree.
With that news in mind, a survey of 1,058 registered voters between July 29-30 found 65 percent of independents said they disapprove of how the administration has handled the budget.
Approval rates among other respondents fell unsurprisingly along party lines, with 79 percent of Republicans approving of Trump’s handling of the deficit versus just 19 percent of Democrats.
Overall, 56 percent of Americans polled in the joint survey by The Hill and HarrisX disapprove of how the GOP and Trump are handling the budget.
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