Overwhelming majorities of people fear they will face new economic hardships if Congress doesn’t extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, increasing the political pressure on the president and GOP leaders to push through a new tax bill.
Voters in 21 critical House swing districts said that they will “struggle” to pay for basics such as groceries and utilities and view a failure to renew the tax cuts as a tax hike.
What’s more, the Fabrizio, Lee & Associates polling memo shared with Secrets suggested that voters will punish lawmakers who block extending the tax cuts that are included in a broader package that President Donald Trump has declared his “big, beautiful” bill.
“With the 2025 tax cliff approaching, the data shows that candidates in swing districts have a clear mandate from voters to act quickly to extend the Trump tax cuts,” Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union, which commissioned the poll, said.
While the survey found that Republicans are especially eager to see the tax cuts extended, it also said that nearly as many Democrats are worried about failure. The survey found that 82% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats fear they will run short of cash if taxes are increased.
What’s more, 81% believe the inaction will lead to higher costs.
Overall, voters in the 21 House districts favor renewing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a 16-point margin, 52%-36%. Only Democrats oppose it. They are set to expire this year.
For Republican voters, passage is a politically decisive issue as they look ahead to the 2026 midterm elections.
“There is strong intensity behind the Republican support with 74% strongly agreeing — GOP voters definitely want to see this issue tackled and completed right away,” the memo from Fabrizio, Lee, which was Trump’s 2024 campaign pollster, said.
It added, “In a group of congressional districts where the House majority could very well be decided, voters — especially Republicans — are clear in their desire to extend the Trump 2017 Tax Cuts to help catalyze economic growth, American innovation, and create new jobs.”
The poll comes as more and more people are growing concerned that the Trump administration’s early actions have led to a Wall Street selloff that is hurting their bottom line.
In a critical sign that they are giving up on Trump, Gallup recorded its highest-ever percentage of people who feel that their personal financial situation is going south. At 53%, it is higher than after COVID-19 fears shut down the economy five years ago.
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Gallup also found that “three in four believe the economy is faltering.”
It’s bottom line warning in a newly published analysis: “Public attitudes about several specific aspects of the U.S. economy have changed markedly in the short time Trump has been in office, as Americans’ expectations for the stock market, economic growth and employment have turned negative and consumers are feeling unusually pessimistic about their personal finances.”
