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| President Donald Trump applauds with Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan during the president's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on January 30. File Photo by Win McNamee/UPI |
By Nicholas Sakelaris, UPI
More Republicans than Democrats in the United States believe having one political party control both Congress and the White House is preferable, a new Gallup survey shows.
The balance of power in Congress is riding on the ballot in next month's midterm election, meaning Democrats could disrupt the one-party rule. Asked if it's preferred to have just one party control the Capitol and White House, 59 percent of Republican Americans said yes.
That's the highest response on the question since 2002.
On the other side, just 30 percent of Democrats said they prefer one party in control.
Researchers said the results of the survey are consistent with prior surveys on the issue.
"Members of the party in opposition to the president tend to be more likely to say it's better if the president and the congressional majority are from different parties," Gallup said Thursday. "This suggests they tend to focus more on ameliorating the current political situation than on envisioning what might be their ideal."
Also Thursday, another Gallup poll showed fewer Americans believe there is too much government regulation. Thirty-nine percent said there is too much, while 33 percent said the balance is just right -- the highest figure in 11 years.
A hallmark of the Trump administration has been rollbacks of Obama-era regulations, including environmental requirements for vehicles and the energy industry, financial matters and civil rights issues.
"As Trump continues to push forward with his program to reduce federal regulations, now well into its second year, Americans have become less likely to perceive a regulatory burden," Gallup said. "Considerably fewer Americans think there is too much government regulation of business and industry than felt that way during the Obama presidency."
The survey showed 25 percent say there is too little regulation, a number that rarely changes.
Around the time Trump took office in January 2017, nearly three-quarters of Republicans said there's too much business regulation. That figure was at 57 percent in Thursday's survey.
In a related question, the Gallup Governance poll found 53 percent of Americans think the federal government has too much power, a decrease from previous years.
The percentage peaked at 60 percent in 2013 and 2015.
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