Originally published Republican support for an apolitical federal workforce is shrinking, survey finds on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/08/republican-support-for-an-apolitical-federal-workforce-is-shrinking-survey-finds/ at Federal News Network
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As the Trump administration continues its major reshaping of the federal workforce, some Americans are beginning to feel differently about the role they believe presidents should have in the hiring and firing of federal employees.
New research from the Partnership for Public Service shows that, particularly among Republicans, there is growing support for greater presidential power over the federal workforce.
Last year, nearly 90% of Republicans agreed that a nonpartisan civil service was important for a strong democracy. This year, that number has dropped to 66%.
The increasing approval among Republicans for presidential authority over federal employees suggests a rising polarization in the country’s view of what the civil service’s role should be, according to the Partnership for Public Service, a non-partisan organization that promotes good government and conducts research on federal institutions.
“Undoubtedly, some of that shift among Republicans is a result of the party of the current president and the change from 2024,” the Partnership wrote this week in its annual report on public trust in government. “But an additional factor might be the criticism of federal civil servants posited by the Trump administration.”
In a nationally representative survey that the Partnership conducted in April, the organization found a significant drop-off in the percentage of Americans who believe presidents should not have the power to fill federal jobs with those who agree with their policies. In 2025, 47% of Americans agreed with that sentiment, down from 71% of Americans a year ago.
The shift is largely caused by changes in Republicans’ views. Just 26% of Republicans say they oppose the president having the power to hire employees who align with his policies — a nearly 40% decrease since last year.
Public perspectives are also shifting in what authority presidents should have for firing federal employees. More Americans now agree that presidents should be able to fire any civil servant they choose, for any reason — increasing from 25% to 34% in one year. Specifically for Republicans, 60% said they believe the president should have that power — an increase from 37% last year.
President Donald Trump has taken several steps to that end. As of this year, there are two new federal employment classifications — Schedule Policy/Career and Schedule G — which attempt to remove civil service protections for broad swaths of career federal employees, and widen the pipeline for political appointees to enter federal jobs.
The Office of Personnel Management also proposed new regulations in June around suitability and fitness standards for federal employees. If finalized, the regulations would create an expedited path to firing employees and add more reasons that feds can be removed from their jobs. The regulations would also limit federal employees’ ability to appeal an agency’s firing decision.
The Partnership warned that the Trump administration’s changes will lead to a deterioration of the apolitical nature of the career federal workforce, and “take us farther from a system that values merit, expertise and professionalism free from political interference.”
Trust increases slightly, but remains low
At the same time, the Partnership’s new report found that the public’s trust in government rose slightly this year, as did the public’s support for the civil service.
Though levels of trust in government remain low overall, the survey results showed a 10% increase in the public’s trust in government. About 33% of Americans said they feel confident in the federal government this year, compared with the 23% who said they trusted the government last year.
The Partnership emphasized that the percentage is still quite low and remains on par with the public’s levels of trust for more than 50 years. The organization said its latest findings confirm “an ongoing crisis of public confidence.”
The organization attributed the growing levels of trust in government to more positive responses from Republicans who participated in the study this year.
Specifically, 42% of Republicans now say they trust the government — representing a four-fold increase over the 10% of Republicans who said they trusted the government in 2024. By comparison, the 2025 survey results show 31% of Democrats and 20% of Independents trust the government.
“Trust is consistently higher among members of the political party that controls the presidency,” the Partnership wrote in its report. “Unfortunately, when the public primarily connects the idea of government with elected officials and political appointees, it prevents them from fully understanding the role of the federal government and the work it does on behalf of the American people.”
Despite the public’s persistently low confidence in government, the Partnership’s research showed that trust in civil servants themselves remains higher than trust in the government overall. The 2025 survey found that public trust in civil servants is growing among both Democrats and Republicans. Nearly half of respondents — about 49% — said they trust civil servants, a slight increase from previous years.
In other research conducted earlier this year, the Partnership also found that a majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce.
More respondents also agreed this year that civil servants are competent and committed to helping “people like me,” the Partnership’s new report showed. And 52% of respondents said civil servants can be trusted to serve leaders of both political parties — a 7-point increase since last year’s study.
The reasons behind that shift, however, are not obvious, the Partnership said.
“While the Trump administration has argued the federal workforce is too large and inefficient, it is possible the public has learned more about what the civil service does in recent months,” the Partnership wrote in its report. “It is also possible that there has been a political reaction in response to unpopular cuts being made by the current White House, or that supporters of the cuts feel that the workers removed from government were poor performers and therefore the current workforce is made up of the most effective employees.”
The Partnership also noted that the consistently low levels of trust likely influenced the Trump administration’s actions to overhaul much of the federal workforce this year.
After more than 40 years of persistently negative perceptions of government, the Partnership said, “some members of the public are willing to see any change as better than the status quo.”
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email [email protected] or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
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Originally published Republican support for an apolitical federal workforce is shrinking, survey finds on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/08/republican-support-for-an-apolitical-federal-workforce-is-shrinking-survey-finds/ at Federal News Network
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