President Donald Trump’s dramatic changes to the federal government haven’t emerged as an obvious political winner or loser, according to a new poll that indicates some Americans may be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now on his Department of Government Efficiency. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults “somewhat” or “strongly” approve of Trump’s handling of Social Security and a similar share approve of the way he’s managing the federal government. Those numbers are almost identical to Trump’s overall presidential approval, suggesting that his Republican administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies and cancel thousands of government contracts haven’t yet created a significant independent backlash — or spurred independent support. Views of Trump and his adviser Elon Musk are still largely intertwined, despite Democrats’ recent focus on Musk. The two men suffered a defeat on Tuesday when the conservative candidate they had endorsed for the Wisconsin Supreme Court was defeated. Musk and the groups he backed spent more than $21 million in the race, the first major test of how voters feel about Musk’s political impact. The poll, which was conducted before Tuesday’s election, found that both Trump and Musk are viewed more negatively than positively and are largely rated similarly by Americans overall. Very few Americans have a positive view of one man and a negative view of the other. Trump’s actions on DOGE largely mirror his overall approval Immigration emerged in the poll as a relative strength for Trump, while trade relations with other countries appeared to be a relative weakness. Unlike those issues, U.S. adults’ views on Trump’s handling of Social Security and management of the federal government are indistinguishable from his overall approval rating. This suggests that Americans may have a less developed opinion of Trump’s actions in this area, or they may be waiting to weigh the impact. There are hints in the poll that Trump’s pledge to cut government spending may be resonating. Closer to half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to government spending, which is slightly higher than his overall approval rating. “I love DOGE,” said Adam Marefka, a 42-year-old facilities maintenance specialist from Birmingham, Alabama, and a Trump supporter. “They’re cutting wasteful spending. We need a smaller government, and there’s only one way to do that.” Others see recklessness. Or, as Paul Vaitkus, of St. Petersburg, Florida, put it: “Total craziness.” “They’re not going to just trim where it needs to trim,” said Vaitkus, a 66-year-old retired cardiologist. “They’re going to do huge damage to agencies, and it’s going to erode the ability of those agencies to provide services to American taxpayers.” Trump’s handling of Social Security is more popular with adults age 60 or older than with younger adults. Despite that, older adults — who tend to be more conservative overall but would also be affected by cuts or changes to Social Security — are no more likely to approve of how Trump is handling his job generally. Even if there’s no clear backlash now, slashing popular programs like Social Security could still quickly take Trump and Musk into perilous territory. An AP-NORC poll conducted in January found that while Republicans and Democrats were divided on whether the U.S. government is spending “too much” or “too little” on the military, assistance to […]