WASHINGTON — As president-elect Donald Trump’s choose attorney general, Pam Bondiprepares for questioning by senators on Wednesday, only about 2 in 10 American adults are “extremely” or “very” certain that the Ministry of Justice will act in a fair and impartial manner during his second term, an opinion poll shows.
Their confidence in the FBI’s neutrality is also low, the poll shows The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Researchwhich was performed before the beginning of the confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet. Even some Republicans are expressing uncertainty at the Justice Department and the FBI, suggesting that even once in power, Trump and his allies will find it challenging to restore trust in the law enforcement agencies they have heavily criticized .
In addition to doubts about the incoming Trump administration, the poll also shows that American views of some of his most prominent nominees are more negative than positive, although many have no opinion about the people he has selected for his Cabinet.
One of Trump’s more controversial nominees, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.is still generally popular with Republicans, according to the poll. Kennedy, the scion of a Democratic dynasty and a prominent vaccine skeptichas been appointed as the top official in the field of healthcare. His confirmation hearings have not been scheduled.
Trump selected loyalists to then run the Justice Department and the FBI threaten revenge against alleged opponents. Relatively few Americans are confident that these agencies will act fairly and impartially over the next four years, the poll found.
About half of Americans are “not very” or “not at all” confident that the Justice Department and FBI will act in a fair and impartial manner during Trump’s second term, while about a third are “somewhat” have confidence in it and about 2 percent of Americans have “some” confidence in it. 10 are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ confident.
Even as a new Republican administration prepares to take power, Republicans are divided over whether the DOJ and FBI will remain neutral. Only about a quarter of Republicans are at least “very” confident that the agencies will behave impartially, while about four-in-ten are “somewhat” confident and roughly a third are “not very” or “not at all” ‘. confidently.
Their uncertainty may reflect the fact that the country’s law enforcement agencies have been heavily criticized in recent years by Trump and his allies, including Bondi. the former attorney general of FloridaAnd Kas Patelhis choice to lead the FBI. In one radio appearance Bondi described special prosecutor jack smith, who whom Trump has sued in two federal casesand other prosecutors who have accused Trump of being “horrendous” people who she said were trying to make a name for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our justice system.”
Patel, meanwhile has called for dramatic changes at the FBIincluding reducing its footprint and authority.
The poll shows only about 2 in 10 Americans approve That of Piet Hegseth appointment as Minister of Defense. He facing contentious confirmation hearings on Tuesday. An equally small share says they approve “somewhat” or “strongly”. Tulsi Gabbard being tapped to serve as head of intelligence and Patel is selected as FBI director. About a third of Americans disapprove of each of the choices, while the rest either have no opinion or don’t know enough to say anything about it.
Many Republicans agree with Trump’s picks of Hegseth, Gabbard and Patel — about four in 10 approve of their nominations — though a significant share are unfamiliar with the nominees or have no opinion.
The poll also indicates that many Americans are skeptical of Trump’s strategy in selecting some Cabinet nominees, such as Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel weekend host who does not have a traditional record in government. Only about a quarter say it would be a good thing if the president relied on people with no government experience for advice on public policy, while about half say it would be a bad thing and the rest say it would not be good or bad.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats or independents to say it’s a good thing that the president is relying on people with no government experience — about 4 in 10 say this, compared with about 2 in 10 independents and about 1 in 10 Democrats — while about 3 in the 10 10 say it is neither good nor bad and about a quarter say it is a bad thing.
But not all the nominees are unknown — and at least one has many fans in Trump’s base. Kennedy, who has promised to undertake a thorough overhaul the Department of Health and Human Services’ staff, has broader name recognition than Hegseth, Gabbard or Patel, but Americans’ feelings toward him are still cold rather than warm. About 3 in 10 American adults “somewhat” or “strongly” approve of Kennedy’s nomination, while about 4 in 10 disapprove “somewhat” or “strongly,” and the rest are neutral or don’t know enough to comment on it to say.
Republicans, however, are largely fans of Kennedy’s nomination, with about six in 10 saying they approve of his nomination to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,147 adults was conducted Jan. 9-13 using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults totals plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.