WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans’ rating of the Secret Service’s job performance has deteriorated sharply to a new low in Â鶹´«Ã½AV’s 10-year trend. The latest poll was completed almost entirely before the Sept. 15 apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the second in nine weeks. About one in three U.S. adults now rate the Secret Service’s performance as “excellent” (8%) or “good” (24%), while 25% say it is “only fair” and 36% “poor.”
The Sept. 3-15 poll was conducted as various government entities continue to investigate the Secret Service’s reported lapses in the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Amid these highly publicized investigations, the percentage of Americans rating the Secret Service as excellent or good plunged 23 percentage points, while the share of those rating it as poor rose by the same margin.
The current findings are in marked contrast with four of the five previous readings over the past decade. The Secret Service -- the federal law enforcement agency charged with keeping political leaders safe -- has typically enjoyed broadly positive ratings from the public, with majorities offering an excellent or good assessment of its performance.
Since 2014, an average of 53% of Americans have rated the Secret Service positively. Yet, this year is not the first time the agency has failed to receive a majority-level excellent or good rating. The initial 43% positive rating in 2014 followed several security lapses, including one in which an intruder jumped a fence and entered the White House.
The 23-point drop for the Secret Service in 2024 is similar to the largest decrease Â鶹´«Ã½AV has recorded for any agency between measures. Ratings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped by 24 points, from 64% to 40%, between 2019 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Reserve’s rating also fell by 23 points, from 53% in 2003 to 30% in 2009, after the Great Recession.
Positive ratings of the Secret Service have dropped precipitously since last year among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (by 26 points, to 20%) and Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (by 18 points, to 47%). The current rating among Republicans and Republican leaners is their lowest to date.
Ratings of the Secret Service among Democrats and Democratic leaners were positive and steady -- between 65% and 68% -- from 2017 through 2023. Positive ratings among Republicans and Republican leaners varied during this time depending on the party of the president. Republicans’ ratings were similarly positive to those of Democrats during Trump’s presidency in 2017 and 2019 but fell to 46% in both 2021 and 2023 after President Joe Biden took office.
U.S. Post Office Remains Top-Rated Federal Government Agency
Americans rated 14 other federal government agencies and departments in addition to the Secret Service in the latest poll. A majority of U.S. adults view just one -- the U.S. Postal Service -- positively. The Postal Service has been the most highly rated agency, or among the highest, since it was first included in Â鶹´«Ã½AV’s periodic government agency assessments in 2014.
On the other hand, less than 35% of Americans rate eight of the government agencies as excellent or good. Along with the Secret Service, these include the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Reserve Board, the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Ratings are about evenly divided on the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while pluralities of Americans rate NASA positively and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as fair or poor.
In addition to the Secret Service, most of the other government agencies’ positive ratings are currently at or near their lowest point in Â鶹´«Ã½AV’s trend.
Democrats Continue to Rate All Agencies More Positively Than Republicans
Democrats rate each agency or department significantly more positively than Republicans do, which has been the case since Biden became president in 2021. The opposite was the case in 2019, when Trump was in office and Republicans rated eight of 13 agencies better than Democrats.
Partisans’ ratings currently differ the most on the CDC, by 46 points, and the FBI, by 41 points -- both of which Trump has been particularly critical of. The partisan gap in ratings is smallest for the VA (11 points) and the Postal Service (17 points).
Bottom Line
The motto of the Secret Service is “worthy of trust and confidence,” yet the U.S. public doesn’t currently agree. The agency has been the target of bipartisan criticism since the first attempted assassination of Trump in July, and the public’s ratings of the agency have worsened significantly. It is unclear if the second apparent assassination attempt would cause ratings of the Secret Service to change. However, the latest attempt on Trump’s life is sure to draw even more scrutiny to the agency and its policies.
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