Most in Georgia disapprove of Musk government role, DOGE cuts: Polling
Most registered voters in Georgia disapprove of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s role in government and cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a poll released Tuesday.
In the survey from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 56.1 percent of respondents said they either “strongly disapprove” or “somewhat disapprove” of “Elon Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration.”
Just more than 40 percent said they either “somewhat approve” or “strongly approve” of Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration.
The poll also found chilly feelings toward DOGE’s cuts to the federal government among Peach State voters.
Just more than half, or 51.5 percent, said they either “strongly disapprove” or “somewhat disapprove” DOGE’s approach to shrinking the size of the federal government, compared to about 42 percent who said that they either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of its work.
Last week, Musk referred to his first 100 days in the White House as “intense,” after President Trump announced the billionaire would be stepping back from his government work and spending more time at his electric vehicle company Tesla.
“It’s just been a very intense 100 days, where at times I was here full-time. So, at the beginning, I was here in D.C. seven days a week for some of the weeks in the beginning, or close to seven days a week,” Musk said Wednesday.
“And now we’re getting more of a rhythm, and so the amount of time that is necessary for me to spend here is much less,” he continued.
DOGE’s sweeping cuts to federal agencies have drawn a fierce backlash from Democrats and a barrage of legal challenges that are still playing out.
Among its most high-profile targets were the United States Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and National Institutes of Health research funding.
Critics have also raised alarm over DOGE staffers gaining access to sensitive private information through the Social Security Administration, IRS and other agencies.
The Journal-Constitution poll took place April 15-24, with 1,000 registered voters and a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
Georgia has become a key swing state in recent election cycles, with two Democrats in the Senate and a popular Republican governor. Trump beat former Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 2 points in the 2024 election, after narrowly losing to former President Biden in the state in 2020.