Americans Usually Blame Republicans After Showdowns Over Government Spending
Playing chicken with the national economy is not unusual for Congress and the president. There was the time that former President Donald Trump ground the government to a halt because he wanted money for his border wall. Oh, and the time that tea party Republicans threatened to send the U.S. into debt default if Congress didn’t slash spending.
In fact, since 2010, there have been no fewer than five major fiscal standoffs between Republicans and Democrats akin to the one(s) we’ll probably brave later this year. These crises had tangible economic consequences, including the furloughing of 800,000 federal workers and the downgrading of the U.S.’s credit rating. But they also had political repercussions for the elected officials who caused them. And that track record could give us an idea of whom Americans would blame if brinksmanship in Washington, D.C., again upsets the economic apple cart.
So I looked at what caused each of the five prior crises and what the polls said after they were resolved. The results bode poorly for Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his fellow Republicans: Since 2010 at least, the public has always blamed and soured on the GOP more than Democrats in the wake of these standoffs.
The OG debt-ceiling crisis
What happened: The first time most Americans had probably heard the term “debt ceiling” was in 2011, when it became a political football in a fight over spending. The debt ceiling establishes how much money the federal government can borrow to pay its existing financial obligations. If it were hit, the U.S. would eventually1 be forced to default on its debt, precipitating an economic crisis. So the debt ceiling had historically been raised regularly without controversy to avoid this.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/government-shutdown-polls/
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