Trust in government is sinking, but a new survey suggests civil servants’ stock is rising

As the Trump administration downsizes the civil service and weakens federal employee job protections, new survey data shows that, by some metrics, more Americans have a favorable opinion of civil servants, even as trust in the federal government diminishes.

“Views of civil servants are more positive now than any of the previous few years,” researchers for the Partnership for Public Service wrote. “Whether that trend continues will probably depend on how the Trump administration continues its efforts to change the federal workforce and how much competence and experience are valued.”

The good government nonprofit has been conducting national surveys on the public’s view of the federal government since 2021. Its most recent data comes from a nationally representative survey of 1,000 U.S. adults performed between March 31 and April 5. 

While the percentage of respondents who said they trust civil servants did decrease to 44% from 49% last year, the Partnership noted that that statistic is higher than the 27% who reported trusting the federal government in 2026. 

Researchers, however, emphasized that the shares of people who agreed that most civil servants are committed to helping people “like me” and are competent have surged to record highs, largely due to increases in the sentiments among Republicans and independents. 

This year, 65% of respondents said that “most civil servants are competent,” with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents agreeing. 

“Since 2021, far more people agreed that civil servants are competent than disagreed — often by a ratio of more than two-to-one,” the researchers wrote. “Now, that number is the highest it has been since the Partnership started the yearly surveys.” 

Likewise, the percentage who agreed that “most civil servants are committed to helping people like me” went from 56% in 2025 to 61% this year. 

“The increase was particularly notable among Republicans — who increased from 52% last year to 63% now — and independents, who increased from 31% to 48%,” the researchers wrote. “In fact, the view that civil servants are committed workers has risen in each of the last four years the Partnership has conducted surveys.” 

The good government group argued that there are likely several different reasons for these results. 

“There's obviously been a lot of attention on the federal workforce over the past two years, particularly because of the cuts made by the current administration,” said Paul Hitlin, a senior research manager at the Partnership, during a webinar on the survey data Wednesday. “It's very possible that people have learned more about civil servants and what they do and think a little more highly of them. It is [also] possible that some people think that less effective civil servants have been removed from the government.”

During the webinar, Hitlin also highlighted survey data from April showing that 64% of respondents said “the management of the federal government is headed in the wrong direction.” 

Overall, trust in the federal government decreased six points from last year to 27%. This statistic has never surpassed 35% in any of the Partnership’s surveys. 

“It goes up and down a little bit, but generally a third or less of the country say they trust the federal government,” Hitlin said. “That's obviously a major challenge.”  

Additionally, 49% of respondents agreed that their experiences with the federal government (e.g. applying for a passport, receiving veterans benefits) have been mostly positive compared with 38% who disagreed. But a breakdown of that data by political affiliation shows a partisan gap that changes depending on who the occupant of the White House is. 

In 2024, 69% of Democratic respondents said their experiences with the federal government were mostly positive compared with 41% currently. In contrast, the percentage of Republican participants who agreed with that sentiment increased from 31% to 62% over the same period.