By Terri Dee, producer
Public News Service
September 28, 2026
As the midterms near and Indiana waits amid the state’s fiercely competitive political climate, a new national poll found Hoosiers and Americans generally have little faith in the federal government.
Research conducted by the Partnership for Public Service indicates 56% of respondents distrust the government, up 8% since 2025. The decline has been steady since the phenomenon was first studied in the 1960s but differs between presidencies.
Paul Hitlin, senior research manager for the partnership and the report’s author, said the boundaries between government and electoral politics are not so clear.
“Politics and elected officials are broadly unpopular, particularly Congress. So that’s one challenge people in the government have is to have the public understand the government is much greater than elected officials,” Hitlin explained.
Young Hoosier voters who do not cast a ballot feel their government does not listen to them and their vote does not matter, according to a study from Bellwether. People do have high opinions of civil servants and their interactions with the federal government, Hitlin added, whether it is renewing a passport or going through an airport security checkpoint.
The Partnership for Public Service poll showed 75% of those questioned see the government as wasteful, a 14% jump from last year, despite the Trump administration’s widespread moves to reduce programs, services and the workforce. Yet people also feel the government is more accountable, a finding which has remained the same.
Though Hitlin believes it must be studied further, he pinpoints some possibilities for the increase.
“It may be some of the work the Trump administration has done with DOGE. It may be that the public has learned more about what federal agencies do and the importance of civil servants as some have left the government,” Hitlin observed.
Hitlin noted trust can be regained by having the government better explain what it does for the American people with broader transparency efforts. In 2022 and 2024, the poll found Americans are generally evenly split between agreeing or disagreeing with the idea the federal government keeps them safe.
Public News Service is a national newswire with a local focus. Through a network of state-based newswires, PNS reports state-level, public interest news and seeks to help the average American answer the question, “How does this news impact me today?”
