Trump and Musk Share Responsibility for DOGE’s Impact, Voters Say

Elon Musk has become a villain to many Americans, with a number of Democrats centering him in their messaging and town-hall attendees criticizing his high-profile role as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency.

But while Musk is less popular than President Donald Trump among the public, Morning Consult data suggests the tech billionaire will not shield him from being held responsible for any adverse effects from DOGE’s mission.

According to our latest survey, 2 in 5 voters say both men are equally responsible for the impact DOGE has on how the federal government functions, while 24% say Musk is mostly responsible and 23% say the same of Trump. Among independent voters, the numbers are similar, while Democrats are more likely than others to say Musk and Republicans are more likely to say Trump.

Despite their shared responsibility, a plurality of voters (45%) still say Musk has too much influence over the Trump administration, including 1 in 5 Republicans.

All of these data points suggest Musk is a decent lightning rod for Democrats to use to vilify the Trump administration, especially since the face of DOGE is less popular than the president among independents and Republicans.

While an equivalent share of voters (48%) disapprove of their job performance, Trump’s approval rating is notably better than Musk’s, with Republican and independent voters a respective 14 and 12 points more likely to give the president positive marks.

This isn’t to say voters don’t see Musk’s DOGE project as successful, even as the effort faces setbacks in court and its cost-cutting math is called into question.

Slim majorities of voters agree that DOGE has been effective at reducing government spending (51%) and identifying waste, fraud and abuse (52%). And though slightly fewer voters think the effort is living up to its name and improving government efficiency (47%), it’s still more than not.

The bottom line

Musk’s effort is making progress toward at least convincing some voters that Trump is delivering on a long-held Republican push to reduce the size and scope of government. In that way, it’s responsive to the chunk of the electorate — largely driven by GOP voters — that hopes the White House prioritizes deficit reduction, shrinking the bureaucracy and slashing foreign aid, which voters believe to be a much larger investment than is true in practice.

However, the seemingly haphazard way Musk is going about it is clearly unnerving some, especially given that, as our previous research has shown, many are not clamoring for the cuts Trump and Musk are pushing. That data suggests this dynamic could worsen as cuts play out, if DOGE keeps its promise to go after the Department of Defense or Trump delivers on his pledge to shutter the Department of Education.

And with DOGE now setting its sights on the Social Security Administration with plans to cut some 7,000 workers, voters increasingly disapproved of the president’s handling of Medicare and Social Security. (For the first time since he took office, voters last week were more likely to disapprove than approve of his handling of entitlements.)

Increasing voter skepticism on that topic might not entirely be due to the government-wide cost-cutting effort, which is running parallel to news of potential safety net cuts from Capitol Hill. That also appears to be weighing on trust in Republicans in Congress as they work to advance the president’s domestic agenda.

Given how voters say that Trump is at least partly responsible for DOGE’s impacts and the president’s weight on views of the party as a whole, it’s the elected Republicans in Congress who should understand that while plenty of voters are still tolerating Musk’s move-fast-and-break-things approach, any major damage down the line will ultimately be paid for with their political capital.