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Americans largely disapprove of attacks on science and medicine, survey finds

Americans disapprove of the Trump administration's policies targeting science and medicine by a margin of more than 2 to 1, according to a survey by Rutgers and other universities.

Nationwide data collected by the Civic Health and Institutions Project, a collaboration among Rutgers, Harvard, Northeastern University, and the University of Rochester, found that cuts to science- and health-related budgets and workforces, agency reorganizations and changes in research priorities are sharply unpopular.

The report is .

"Across the board, our research showed that government actions to defund scientific work and conduct massive layoffs in science and health agencies are not being met with strong public support," said Katherine Ognyanova, an associate professor of communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and the survey's principal investigator.

Between April 10 and June 10, the consortium collected 31,062 responses from individuals ages 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Surveys were conducted via an online, nonprobability sample, with state-level representative quotas for race, ethnicity, age and gender. The project's survey methodology was recently recognized with the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

Respondents were asked about specific measures taken by the administration of President Donald Trump, including:

• Reductions in grant funding and research by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation

• Layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

• Pauses in delivery of public health information

• Deletion of datasets and web pages related to vulnerable populations and environmental justice

• The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

At the national level, 21% of Americans "approved" or "strongly approved" of the moves, while 48% "disapproved" or "strongly disapproved." The remainder—more than 30% of respondents—expressed neutral views, selecting "neither approve nor disapprove." This suggests that public opinion is not simply divided into two opposing camps, but reflects a substantial degree of ambivalence or uncertainty.

Republicans stood out as the only group in which approval outweighed disapproval, with 42% expressing approval and 19% disapproval. Approval was also higher among men (28%), white respondents (24%) and earners making more than $100,000 (31%).

Disapproval was highest among Democrats, with 74% expressing negative views, compared to 8% who approved. Other groups with high disapproval rates included African Americans (56%), Asian Americans (50%), women (53%), seniors ages 65 and older (55%) and individuals with college or graduate degrees (50%).

Respondents also were asked about funding, and enthusiasm was strongest when it came to medical research. Overall, 57% of respondents favored increasing government investment in medical research, with 10% preferring to reduce it. Younger adults aged 18 to 24 (63%), graduate degree holders (63%), and Democrats (67%) were especially likely to support funding increases, and even among Republicans, nearly half (48%) supported increasing funding, while only 15% favored cuts.

"The results show widespread, bipartisan and cross-demographic support for medical research, positioning it as a rare point of consensus in American public opinion," the researchers wrote.

Other key findings include:

• Pauses in public health information dissemination (51% disapproval) and the firing of NOAA employees (50% disapproval) were viewed the most negatively.

• Approval levels for individual actions were low; only dismantling USAID and layoffs at the CDC received more than 25% approval—29% and 27%, respectively.

• The proportion of Americans reporting high trust in scientists declined to 36% in 2025 from 58% in 2020, with sharper drops among Republicans (to 26% from 54%) than Democrats (to 50% from 67%).

Despite declines, scientists and doctors remain more trusted than most institutions, including Congress, the Supreme Court and the news media.