Americans’ belief that government corruption is widespread hit a record 89% this year, driven by rare bipartisan convergence as Democrats’ concern is now only marginally higher than that of Republicans, according to a new poll.
The level of concern is the highest level in 20 years, according to a Gallup poll, published Wednesday, that was fielded May 1 through June 10.
Compared to readings in the 72% to 79% range between 2010 and 2025, this year’s is the highest spike.
Democrats’ view of government corruption has risen the most sharply since 2024, as Republicans’ opinions have changed only mildly in the same period.
From President Biden’s final year in office in 2024 to the beginning of President Trump’s second term in 2025, Democrats’ perception of widespread government corruption shot up by 19 percentage points: 57% to 76%.
This year, that figure rose to 91%, and several developments could explain the rise.
Mr. Trump has continued to expand his family’s business interests while in office, drawing scrutiny over potential conflicts between his administration’s decisions and his companies’ financial stakes.
Congress has faced its own renewed criticism over lawmakers’ personal stock trading, reviving long-running calls for a ban on members buying and selling individual stocks while in office.
The rapid growth of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket has also raised alarms in Washington.
The House Oversight Committee has opened a broader probe into whether government employees have used insider knowledge to trade on the platforms.
The explosive growth of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket has also fueled fresh insider-trading concerns tied directly to the administration.
A White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, was fined roughly $172,000 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission after he was accused of using advance access to Mr. Trump’s speeches to place bets. In a separate case, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was charged with using classified information to profit off the capture of Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolas Maduro.
In the White House administrative shift from 2024 to 2025, Republicans’ view of corruption has changed far less, at 83%. About 8 in 10 have said corruption is widespread for the past two years, compared to 87% of whom agreed in 2024.
Political independents align more closely with Democrats, at 90%, up 12 points since 2024.
Several other polls back up this perception.
A Brennan Center for Justice poll from April 28 to May 6 found that more than 90% of Republicans, Democrats and independents each said corruption was a big problem permeating every government institution.
An Aug. 14-17 Reuters/Ipsos poll found that three in four Americans said corruption influences federal government decisions “a great deal” or “quite a bit.” Views on this span party lines, with large shares of Democrats, Republicans and independents alike saying corruption plays at least some role.
Even as a majority of both parties agree on widespread government corruption, they follow different patterns.
More Democrats appear likely to believe it when a GOP administration is in control of the White House, while Republicans seem less inclined to have a party switch affect their views.
On the other hand, this growing perception of government corruption does not align with views of business corruption, which is typically strongly related among other countries.
Americans’ perceptions of business corruption increased by eight points to 71%, 18 points lower than impressions of corruption in government.
Since 2006, few countries have recorded larger gaps than the current U.S. gap in both perceptions of corruption.
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