Trump’s Drug Pricing Executive Order Is as Unpopular as His Jan. 6 Pardons

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President Donald Trump’s slew of initial executive actions scored a mixed response from voters, with most in support of his U.S.-Mexico border crackdown and nearly as many opposed to his pardons for Jan. 6 protesters and clawback of a Biden administration health order that Democrats argue runs afoul of the electorate’s desire to cut personal costs.

According to our latest survey, majorities of voters approve of his declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border (57%), his requirement that federal employees quickly return to the office (55%) and his proclamation that the federal government will only recognize men and women by their sex as assigned at birth (55%).

Voters are more divided on other moves, such as his order that aims to eliminate birthright citizenship that’s now being challenged in court and his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

On the other hand, over half of voters disapprove of his elimination of a Biden executive order that was designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs (including 27% of Republicans) — a move that is about as unpopular as his decision to pardon the 1,500 people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The mass pardons, our survey found, face higher disapproval than then-President Joe Biden’s own last-minute pardoning of his family members, which earned negative marks from 44% of the electorate.

Roughly 2 in 5 voters approve of Biden’s pardon of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley or former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who helped lead a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. While that fell in line with the share of voters who approve of Trump’s Jan. 6-related pardons, far fewer voters disapproved of Biden’s 11th-hour pardons.

The bottom line

Voter resentment about the Jan. 6 pardons, which sparked another round of now familiar cries from the left that Trump is doing away with the rule of law for his supporters, is likely to fade fade: Our data, and the 2024 election itself, shows it hasn’t been a major issue on voters’ minds. 

But health care is a different story, and the fact that Trump’s actions on that matter are as unpopular as his freeing of rioters he called “patriots” and “hostages” provides Democrats an opening to attack where they have some credibility. 

Trump’s approval rating on health care issues is relatively low, and it’s the only extremely salient issue where Democrats in Congress hold a trust advantage over Republicans. 

And while most voters (73%) say that making health care more affordable for more Americans should be a top priority for the Trump administration, our latest survey shows just 41% think the administration prioritizes it that highly.

All of this suggests it would behoove Democrats, who effectively rode health care-centric campaigns to success during the 2018 and 2020 elections when Trump was last president, to dust off that playbook and work to raise the salience of the topic ahead of next year’s midterms.