The latest poll by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center showed that most Americans think that the government's "shutdown" is a "major", and both parties have a responsibility for it.

The poll was conducted from the 9th to the 13th of this month, with 1289 American adults participating, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The results showed that about 60% of respondents believed that U.S. President Trump and congressional Republicans were "very" or "quite" responsible for the government's "shutdown," and nearly half of Americans believed that Trump was the most responsible. However, 54% of respondents also blamed Democrats. In addition, more than three-quarters of the respondents believe that the two parties should bear at least a "certain degree" of responsibility for the government's "shutdown."

This is a Washington monument photographed in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. on October 14.

According to the Associated Press, the two parties regard this government "shutdown" as the prelude to the mid-term congressional elections in 2026, and the Democratic Party plans to regain control of the House of Representatives. However, the "shutdown" has not significantly changed people's views on the two parties. Polls show that about 30% of American adults support the Democratic Party "to a certain extent" or "very", which is consistent with the results of the September poll; 40% of the respondents also support the Republican Party, and the data is similar to last month's results.

Polls also show that public trust in Congress remains extremely low. Only about 4% of Americans said they have "a lot" of confidence in the way Congress works, 43% said they have "some" confidence, and about half of respondents have "little" confidence in Congress.

Due to differences between the two parties on core issues such as health insurance-related welfare expenditure, the Senate failed to pass a new provisional allocation bill before the end of the previous fiscal year on September 30, leading to the exhaustion of funds for the federal government to maintain normal operation, and "stopped" on October 1.