❓WHAT HAPPENED: Government and political leadership remained the top concern for Americans in February, with immigration rising sharply as the second most mentioned issue.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The responses reflect concerns from Democrats, Republicans, and independents, as well as broader dissatisfaction with political leadership and immigration policies.
📍WHEN & WHERE: February 2-16, 2025, across the United States, per a Gallup poll.
🎯IMPACT: The findings highlight continued dissatisfaction with government and an increased focus on immigration, reflecting partisan divides and differing priorities.
Government and political leadership remain Americans’ top concern, according to a Gallup poll conducted February 2-16. Immigration emerged as the second-most-cited issue, followed by the economy and inflation. Importantly, Gallup stresses that the survey was conducted before the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28.
According to the data, 29 percent of American adults said government or politics is the most important problem facing the United States. This is only a slight decline from 32 percent who said the same in January. Notably, immigration as an issue rose to 20 percent, up from 10 percent in January, while the economy was a concern of only 11 percent, and inflation was a concern for only eight percent of respondents.
Other notable issues included unifying the country (seven percent), problems with the judicial system (six percent), and concerns about elections and democracy (five percent). Race relations, crime, and healthcare were each cited by four percent of respondents.
A major factor in what respondents considered their top concern is partisan affiliation. According to Gallup, 44 percent of Democrats cited government as the top problem. Meanwhile government was only the top problem for 24 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans. The Democrat concerns, according to the data, are almost entirely driven by criticisms of the Trump White House. However, Republican respondents pointed to corruption—like the massive social services fraud scheme in Minnesota—or partisan gridlock as the most important problems plaguing government.
Mentions of immigration rose across all party groups in February, with 32 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats, and 15 percent of independents citing the issue. Republicans frequently focused on illegal immigration and border security, while Democrats highlighted humanitarian concerns and their criticism of federal immigration policy.
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