Blame Trump for the government shutdown, says 51% of Americans: Poll

A national opinion poll conducted during January 8th to 14th has found that more than half of the Americans are blaming the United States (US) President Donald Trump for the longest US government shutdown in its history.

A total of 51% of US adults are finger-pointing at Mr Trump to be the cause of the problem, while 34% are blaming the Democrats in Congress, and a small 6% are putting the fault on the Republicans in Congress, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

The online poll which was conducted in English throughout the US, had gathered responses from 2,343 adults, including 1,016 Democrats, 787 Republicans, and 321 independent supporters.

Salaries blocked, workers halted work, shutdown sinks heavy financial costs on America

The US government shutdown is on its 25th day as of Tuesday as Washington faces a gridlock, caught over Mr Trump’s demand for a wall to be built along the US’ Southwestern border.

The shutdown is the longest in the nation’s 242-year history, and around 800,000 federal workers are currently going without pay. The cascading effect of the shutdown has also affected local eateries and shops near the major federal offices, said local reports.

The congress has approved a proposal to give back pay for federal workers affected by the shutdown, but their pay checks will only come in after Washington reaches a deal.

According to White House’s estimates, the shutdown is costing America 0.13 percentage point in growth every week.

Among the people who were polled, 38% responded yes to questions on whether their family or someone they knew personally had lost any income, knew anyone or would personally expect to lose earnings with the shutdown or relied or knew someone who used any of the closed government services.

A balance of 37% of the people polled said they have not been affected by the shutdown, while 25% gave an unsure response.