Most Americans know the federal government is shut down — and they’re not shrugging it off. Most expect it to hurt them personally, fear it will damage the country even more, and increasingly blame Republicans and President Donald Trump — whose low approval rating has taken a strong hit — for the crisis.

That’s according to an extensive Navigator poll released on Wednesday.

Overall, Americans blame Trump and the GOP for the shutdown by a 14-point margin — up four points from last week. And Trump and Republicans in Congress are increasingly seen in a negative light over what they’re fighting for in the shutdown.

At the same time, President Trump is now seeing his lowest approval rating since 2018, according to Navigator. Other polls have produced similar results.

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Three out of four Americans have heard some news of the shutdown. And about two-thirds (66%) have heard a lot or some about it.

It’s having a massive impact.

“64 percent believe the shutdown will have a negative impact on them personally, up from half who thought the same last week. Even more (77 percent) believe it will have a negative impact on the country,” Navigator reported.

Nearly half of Americans, 47%, blame President Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, an increase of four points over last week.

“Since last week, independents increasingly blame Trump and Republicans more than Democrats for the government shutdown,” according to Navigator. “When forced to choose between Trump and Republicans or Democrats, a majority say Trump and Republicans have the power to end it (52 percent – 21 percent).”

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Americans also see Trump and the GOP as trying to keep the government shut down, and give Democrats “more credit” for trying to keep the government open.

A plurality, 42%, know Democrats are fighting for health care and see that as a positive.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) want Trump and the GOP to compromise with Democrats, and by a strong  margin (39 points).

Overall, according to Navigator’s graphics, when asked about nine issues, Americans’ top concern (76%) currently is the shutdown and it having no clear end in sight.

That’s closely followed by the rising cost of health care and Americans losing coverage without congressional action (74%).

Food stamp funding (SNAP) running out on November 1, leaving about 42 million people without federal nutritional assistance, comes in a close third (73%).

All this appears to be having an impact on President Trump’s popularity.

“As the shutdown continues, President Trump’s overall approval rating (-16) and economic job approval (-21) remain underwater, the lowest point both of these metrics have been since the beginning of our shutdown tracking.”

READ MORE: ‘Do What Leaders Do’: Dem Leader Scorches ‘Missing in Action’ Trump

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House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted President Donald Trump for being “missing in action” and not acting like a leader as the federal government shutdown entered its twenty-eighth day.

Senate Democrats are demanding negotiations with Republican Majority Leader John Thune to find a way to restore the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, without which millions of Americans will lose health care coverage, and even more could see premiums skyrocket. Republicans are refusing to negotiate unless Democrats first vote to reopen the government.

“Convene the appropriators,” Jeffries insisted, referring to the budget committee.

“Do what leaders do in moments like this, as opposed to being missing in action now for 28 days, while finding $40 billion to bail out a right-wing, wannabe dictator in Argentina, and destroying the historic parts of the White House in real time, so that he can construct a ballroom, where he will be celebrated like a wannabe king,” the Democratic Leader said.

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“This is all outrageous stuff.”

“And the American people see it unfolding before their very eyes, and they know that Donald Trump and Republicans have not been serious about doing what is necessary to enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of hardworking American taxpayers.”

Also on Tuesday, Politico reported that Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had suggested “that a Trump administration effort to scrounge together money to pay air traffic controllers during the federal shutdown is dead.”

“Duffy said he had examined the FAA’s budget to see if he could find any available funds, but ‘there’s not a lot of leeway that we have to get people paid.'”

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Jeffries’ remarks came around the same time as Vice President JD Vance told reporters, after attending the weekly GOP luncheon, that the White House has found a way to pay the troops again, as Punchbowl News’ Max Cohen reported.

Bobby Kogan, the senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, responded to President Trump paying the troops:

“Huge contrast with illegally refusing to make SNAP payments. What we’re seeing from the White House is them moving heaven and earth to pay what they want to pay, even if it’s illegal — and moving heaven and earth to NOT pay what they don’t want to pay, even if it’s illegal.”

Jeffries: “Convene the appropriators. Do what leaders do in moments like this, as opposed to being missing in action now for 28 days while finding $40b to bail out a right-wing wannabe dictator in Argentina & destroying the historic parts of the WH in real time so that he can… pic.twitter.com/7teVsZL5y1

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 28, 2025

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Republican former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger sharply condemned President Donald Trump and his onetime GOP colleagues, accusing the president of “sadism” for refusing to release what experts say are legally mandated funds to sustain food stamp payments once they’re cut off on November 1.

Warning that “millions of Americans will stop receiving food stamps” if Congress does not act, Kinzinger explained that “mothers won’t be able to buy groceries. Veterans won’t be able to feed their families. Children will go hungry — not because of some natural disaster or accident of bureaucracy, but because our leaders made a deliberate choice.”

“I’ve been in Congress,” he wrote. “I’ve sat in those rooms where politicians calculate pain — where they decide that hurting ordinary Americans might be good for their ‘message.'”

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Indeed, on Tuesday afternoon, Politico reported that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told his GOP conference to sit tight as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps shutoff hits.

“‘Things are getting real’ this week,” Johnson said, as Politico noted, adding that “he braced his members for some of the worst real-world fallout of the shutdown so far.”

Johnson “urged Republicans to stay in lockstep as ‘pressure mounts on Democrats’ — including key deadlines that will impact millions of low-income Americans.”

“’The pain register is about to hit level 10,’ Johnson said, adding that ‘sadly’ 42 million Americans will be hit this weekend when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits run out of money.”

Kinzinger pointed out that President Trump “has a choice” in this.

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“He can use emergency funds to keep food assistance flowing while negotiations continue. He could say, ‘Not on my watch will people go hungry.’ But he isn’t. He is choosing not to — because he wants the pain. He wants the headlines. He wants to point to struggling families and say, ‘Blame the Democrats.'”

“That’s not leadership,” the former lawmaker lamented. “That’s sadism dressed up as politics.”

Expressing anger over Trump’s $300 million ballroom, and possible $250 million Department of Justice settlement for being investigated, Kinzinger said, “I’ve seen what shutdowns do.”

“I’ve seen families line up at food pantries because their pay got delayed. I’ve heard from single parents who rely on SNAP to get through the week. These are not ‘lazy’ people. They’re workers — often working full-time — who still fall below the poverty line because the system rewards wealth, not work.”

He added that “what government is supposed to do” is “protect its citizens in hard times. Not turn hunger into a political weapon.”

Denouncing the “moral bankruptcy” of congressional Republicans and President Trump, Kinzinger wrote, “When you see a president who intentionally withholds help to make a point, you’re seeing the moral rot that now defines the GOP. The cruelty isn’t a side effect — it’s the strategy.”

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