Summary
- Nearly 70% of U.S. adults think Trump relies heavily on executive power.
- The majority of those believe this harms the country.
- 49% say Trump uses more power than past presidents, viewed negatively.
TOPEKA — According to a national survey, over seven out of ten American citizens believe that President Donald Trump relied more on executive power than past presidents, and most of those who came to that conclusion think that his use of federal authority was detrimental to the nation.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, 69% of respondents believed Trump was relying more on executive authority than his predecessors. Of those surveyed, 49% attributed Trump's strategy to unfavorable results. Twelve percent of respondents believed that the United States benefited from the president's use of executive power.
“There is a percentage of Republicans who aren’t so pleased with Trump’s actions,”
said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University in Topeka.
Beatty said Pew’s national snapshot of political sentiment didn’t separate out views of Kansans, but revealed a broad picture of disenchantment. He speculated the group of people uncomfortable with Trump’s flexing of executive power included voters who assisted with the election of Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District.
“The very ones that help Davids get elected in the 3rd District. The very ones the Kansas Republicans apparently want to redistrict,”
Beatty said.
In order to make it harder for Davids to win in 2026, GOP leaders in the Kansas Legislature are requesting the signatures of two-thirds of the House and Senate members in order to summon a special session in November to redraw the boundaries of the state's four congressional districts. Davids has seen the GOP campaign as an attempt to deny citizens their right to vote, even Republicans in her Johnson County-anchored district.
According to Pew, 21% of 3,455 persons who participated in the survey conducted from September 22–28 believed that Trump's use of executive power during his second term was on par with that of previous presidents, and 2% believed that he was less dependent on that power than his predecessors.
According to eight out of ten Democrats surveyed by Pew, Trump increased presidential power beyond that of previous presidents, which was bad for the nation. According to Pew, only 1% of Democrats believed that Trump's use of presidential power will benefit the US.
There was greater disagreement among Republicans in the survey, as 49% of them believed Trump was attempting to exercise more presidential authority. But most of these Republicans believed the result was good for the country. According to Pew, 24% of GOP-leaning people said the outcome would be detrimental to the nation.
“What I’m seeing here is a flip,”
said Michael Smith, professor of political science at Emporia State University. “In recent years, Republicans had been much more united than Democrats. This survey indicates that this has flipped.”
Pew referred to itself as a "nonpartisan fact tank" that uses content analysis, demographic research, and polling to educate the public about topics, attitudes, and trends. It is a division of the Pew Charitable Trust, the main source of funding for the research institute.
How might Kansas Republican leaders respond to the Pew findings?
Historically, several Kansas Republicans have been closely aligned with Trump, who espouses executive action as a necessary mechanism for enacting public policy. They may offer strong arguments that this style of leadership is beneficial for the country and the state through law and order, economic activity, and judicial appointments.
Given the concerns highlighted in the Pew survey, Kansas GOP legislators may calibrate their messages carefully to reassure constituents that checks and balances in government continue to be adhered to, while advocating for Trump's agenda.
Additionally, the Kansas GOP leadership is cognizant of dissent from their rank-and-file members, the Kansas Democratic Party, and even some moderate Republicans on issues related to redistricting and their social policy platform.