Public Opinion on Threats to Public Health and Science
Public Concern about Threats to Public Health and Science Remains Modest
Exhibit 1a: Any Reported Awareness of Key Actions Affecting Public Health and Science, by Partisanship (N=1,120)
| Since January 2025, have you heard anything about the following topics, whether from media sources and/or other people? | Any reported awareness (March 2025) |
Any reported awareness (Sept 2025) |
Democrat | Independent | Republican | p |
| Cutting the funds the federal government pays universities and other research institutions to help support overhead costs (known as “indirect costs”) | 73.3% | 61.2% | 73.5% | 50.1% | 53.4% | .000 |
| Stopping ongoing collection of publicly available health and science data by the federal government [In March: Removing] | [58.8%] | 39.5% | 60.8% | 22.3% | 24.6% | .000 |
| Firing of scientists, health workers, and other civil servants | 79.9% | 63.4% | 79.1% | 45.9% | 55.5% | .000 |
| Canceling of approved research grants on topics not aligned with presidential administration priorities | 70.2% | 54.7% | 72.4% | 36.2% | 45.0% | .001 |
| Removing scientific experts from panels that make health recommendations (e.g., about vaccines, cancer screenings) | — | 54.7% | 71.7% | 43.0% | 41.5% | .000 |
| Proposing to cut the federal budget for scientific research | — | 57.1% | 74.0% | 47.8% | 42.7% | .000 |
| Increasing the federal government’s involvement in how universities in the United States/in your state operate* | — | 53.9% | 67.4% | 43.1% | 44.3% | .000 |
| Issuing federal vaccine recommendations that conflict with the recommendations of professional organizations (like the American Academy of Pediatrics) | — | 52.5% | 68.7% | 36.0% | 43.1% | .000 |
Note. “Media sources” were defined as “e.g., social media, print or online news, podcasts, radio, and television”; “other people” were defined as “e.g., family, friends, health care providers.” <15 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered. P values based on chi-square analyses. *Split ballot item, with no significant difference across groups in any reported awareness.
Exhibit 1b: Recent Reported Awareness of Key Actions Affecting Public Health and Science
| Thinking only about the past few weeks, how much have you heard about the following topics from media sources and/or other people? | None | A little | Some | A lot | n |
| Cutting the funds the federal government pays universities and other research institutions to help support overhead costs (known as “indirect costs”) | 16.4% | 27.6% | 35.0% | 21.1% | 714 |
| Stopping ongoing collection of publicly available health and science data by the federal government | 10.0% | 29.9% | 32.8% | 27.3% | 464 |
| Firing of scientists, health workers, and other civil servants | 9.2% | 25.8% | 31.1% | 33.9% | 755 |
| Canceling of approved research grants on topics not aligned with presidential administration priorities | 11.9% | 25.8% | 32.7% | 29.6% | 657 |
| Removing scientific experts from panels that make health recommendations (e.g., about vaccines, cancer screenings) | 9.2% | 24.0% | 31.5% | 35.4% | 642 |
| Proposing to cut the federal budget for scientific research | 14.7% | 25.4% | 36.1% | 23.9% | 657 |
| Increasing the federal government’s involvement in how universities in the United States/in your state operate* | 11.2% | 30.6% | 32.7% | 25.4% | 633 |
| Issuing federal vaccine recommendations that conflict with the recommendations of professional organizations (like the American Academy of Pediatrics) | 6.2% | 20.6% | 30.3% | 42.9% | 636 |
Note. Question only asked of those who previously reported any awareness on the corresponding item (Exhibit 1a). Media sources” were defined as “e.g., social media, print or online news, podcasts, radio, and television”; “other people” were defined as “e.g., family, friends, health care providers.” Items were randomly ordered. *Split ballot item, with no significant difference across groups in frequency of awareness.
Exhibit 2: Agreement with Positive and Negative Consequences of NIH Funding Cuts (N=1,120)
| To what extent do you agree or disagree that funding cuts to NIH research grants will lead to… | Overall agreement (March 2025) | Overall agreement (Sept 2025) | Strongly disagree | Disagree | Neither agree nor disagree | Agree | Strongly agree |
| Negative impacts | |||||||
| …layoffs and/or hiring freezes at universities and/or their hospitals? | 51.2% | 51.3% | 6.1% | 11.5% | 31.1% | 30.1% | 21.1% |
| …higher tuition costs for college students? | 34.7% | 37.4% | 9.0% | 13.9% | 39.7% | 22.1% | 15.2% |
| …fewer positions for health and science graduate students? | 48.2% | 50.5% | 6.0% | 9.6% | 33.9% | 30.1% | 20.4% |
| …fewer clinical trials for cancer patients? | 50.2% | 48.3% | 7.5% | 14.9% | 29.2% | 24.9% | 23.4% |
| …delays in the development of new medical treatments? | 48.8% | 50.1% | 7.2% | 12.0% | 30.7% | 24.9% | 25.2% |
| Positive impacts | |||||||
| …more streamlined operations at universities and/or their hospitals? | 25.8% | 24.4% | 16.5% | 17.3% | 41.8% | 19.5% | 4.9% |
| …greater efficiencies in how medical research is conducted? | 24.0% | 26.1% | 21.0% | 17.3% | 35.6% | 18.9% | 7.2% |
| …more money available to spend on patient care? | 23.1% | 22.0% | 21.5% | 21.7% | 34.8% | 17.1% | 4.9% |
Note. Overall agreement calculated by combining “agree” and “strongly agree” responses. “Don’t know” responses (<10 on any item) collapsed into “neither agree nor disagree”; <15 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered and did not include the headers suggesting “positive” or “negative.”
Exhibit 3: Opposition to Cutting Funding for Health and Science Research (N=1,120)
| Please indicate how much you support or oppose cutting federal funding of research that… | Overall oppose cutting
(Sept 2025) |
Strongly oppose cutting | Somewhat oppose cutting | Neither support nor oppose | Somewhat support cutting | Strongly support cutting |
| … provides the foundational knowledge about how the natural world works, which might lead to future discoveries about human health | 40.6% | 26.5% | 14.1% | 31.4% | 17.0% | 11.0% |
| … develops and tests new medical treatments and therapies to improve human health | 44.9% | 31.7% | 13.2% | 24.0% | 18.1% | 13.0% |
| … seeks to understand how people make decisions, including about their health | 38.8% | 23.5% | 15.4% | 34.6% | 17.5% | 9.0% |
| … seeks to understand why some groups of people are healthier or sicker than others | 39.8% | 26.0% | 13.8% | 30.4% | 19.7% | 10.2% |
Note. Overall oppose cutting calculated by combining “strongly oppose cutting” and “somewhat oppose cutting” responses. “Don’t know” responses (<10 on any item) collapsed into “neither agree nor disagree”; <10 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered.
Exhibit 4: Mobilization around Funding for Health and Science Research (N=1,120)
| How likely are you to do the following activities in the next few months? | Overall likelihood*
(Sept 2025) |
Very unlikely | Unlikely | Neither likely nor unlikely |
Likely | Very likely |
| Contact elected officials to urge them to take action to support federal funding for health and science research | 20.3% | 29.2% | 20.7% | 29.9% | 12.1% | 8.2% |
| Sign a petition to support federal funding for health and science research | 35.3% | 22.7% | 14.1% | 28.0% | 22.5% | 12.8% |
| Attend a rally to support federal funding for health and science research | 14.2% | 35.1% | 20.0% | 30.7% | 8.2% | 6.0% |
| Try to raise awareness among people you know about cuts to federal funding for health and science research | 24.6% | 25.4% | 17.8% | 32.3% | 14.8% | 9.7% |
Note. Overall likelihood calculated by combining “likely” and “very likely” responses. “Don’t know” responses (<5 on any item) collapsed into “neither agree nor disagree”; <15 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered.
Exhibit 5: Personal experience with interruptions or difficulties accessing services or information, by partisanship (N=1,120)
| Have you or someone you know (e.g., family member, friend) experienced… |
Overall
(Sept 2025) |
Democrat | Independent | Republican | p |
| Interruption or stopping of medical treatment provided through a clinical trial | .134 | ||||
| No | 81.3% | 79.0% | 76.7% | 87.2% | |
| Yes | 7.3% | 9.3% | 8.2% | 4.3% | |
| I don’t know | 11.3% | 11.7% | 15.1% | 8.6% | |
| Difficulty accessing seasonal vaccines (e.g., for flu, RSV) | .011 | ||||
| No | 81.5% | 78.8% | 77.0% | 87.7% | |
| Yes | 6.7% | 9.9% | 5.8% | 3.2% | |
| I don’t know | 11.8% | 11.3% | 17.2% | 9.1% | |
| Difficulty accessing COVID-19 vaccines | .000 | ||||
| No | 76.5% | 71.2% | 72.8% | 85.0% | |
| Yes | 10.1% | 17.2% | 6.8% | 3.7% | |
| I don’t know | 13.4% | 11.6% | 20.4% | 11.3% | |
| Difficulty accessing health or science information (e.g., about vaccine recommendations, weather events) | .001 | ||||
| No | 74.7% | 70.1% | 70.5% | 82.9% | |
| Yes | 11.8% | 18.1% | 10.8% | 4.8% | |
| I don’t know | 13.5% | 11.8% | 18.7% | 12.4% | |
Note. <10 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered. P values based on chi-square analyses.
Exhibit 6: Personal experience with firings, layoffs, and/or departures, by partisanship (N=1,120)
| Have you or someone you know (e.g., family member, friend) been personally affected by the recent firings, layoffs, and/or departures of… |
Overall
(March 2025) |
Overall
(Sept 2025) |
Democrat | Independent | Republican | p |
| …federal government workers | .002 | |||||
| No | 69.3% | 72.5% | 68.0% | 66.8% | 81.5% | |
| Yes | 18.0% | 17.5% | 22.8% | 16.9% | 11.3% | |
| I don’t know | 12.8% | 10.1% | 9.2% | 16.3% | 7.2% | |
| …state or local government workers | .000 | |||||
| No | — | 77.3% | 73.6% | 70.5% | 86.1% | |
| Yes | — | 12.1% | 17.5% | 10.6% | 6.5% | |
| I don’t know | — | 10.6% | 8.9% | 18.9% | 7.3% | |
| …workers at universities and/or their hospitals | .000 | |||||
| No | — | 75.8% | 72.7% | 65.3% | 86.4% | |
| Yes | — | 13.7% | 17.8% | 17.8% | 6.2% | |
| I don’t know | — | 10.5% | 9.5% | 17.0% | 7.5% | |
| …workers at non-governmental (non-profit) organizations | .001 | |||||
| No | — | 73.0% | 68.1% | 66.7% | 83.1% | |
| Yes | — | 15.5% | 21.1% | 14.5% | 9.2% | |
| I don’t know | — | 11.5% | 10.8% | 18.8% | 7.7% | |
Note. <15 missing on any item. Items were randomly ordered. P values based on chi-square analyses.