Congress' "week from hell" is well on its way, as lawmakers juggle the two-track infrastructure and $3.5 trillion spending bills with a looming government shutdown and the threat of a "catastrophic" default on the nation's national debt. Unfortunately, avoiding the latter has proved rather complicated.
Although Democrats' have consistently blamed and maligned Republicans for refusing to raise the debt ceiling on a bipartisan basis (and therefore avoid defaulting on payments), Republicans have held firm — the left must do it on its own, if only so the GOP can use it against them during midterms. Lawmakers have decried the GOP tactic as irresponsible (they fear they might not have time to cram the provision into their reconciliation bill)...but in voters' eyes, the Republican reticence might be working, according to a new poll from Morning Consult and Politico.
Just 1 in 5 voters would blame Republicans if the U.S. failed to raise the debt ceiling and defaulted on its national debt, the poll reveals, despite Democrats' clear attack on GOP strategy.
That said, about 2 in 5 voters said they would blame both parties equally, while 31 percent would find Democrats culpable.
When broken down by party, 56 percent of Republican voters — rather unsurprisingly — said they would blame Democrats, but just 32 percent of Democrats said they'd think the GOP at fault.
Morning Consult and Politico surveyed 1,999 registered voters from Sept. 24-27. Results have a margin of error of two percentage points. See more results at Morning Consult.