Poll: More Americans Want the 'Best People' in Government Than Private Sector

Throughout his campaign for president, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to bring the “best people” into government under his administration.

The president has perhaps seen even more success at getting people to leave government. The May jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed an additional 2,800 non-postal civilian employees left agencies last month, bringing the total reductions since Trump took office to 18,300.

The American people, however, are with Trump on his campaign promise. In a recent Rasmussen survey, 45 percent of respondents said they would like to see the “best people” work for the government. Just more than one-quarter of respondents said it would instead be in the country’s best interest for the best people to work for the private sector, while another 28 percent said they were not sure.

Young, Democratic voters were most likely to support America’s best working in government, according to the survey. Rasmussen issued the poll in the wake of Trump’s executive orders to reform the federal civil service, the pollster said, including by easing the firing of employees.

Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 likely voters between May 28-29, with a margin of error of 3 percent.