Trump should sign measure protecting Mueller to avert government shutdown: poll

Most U.S. voters believe that President Trump should sign into law a measure protecting special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation to avoid a partial government shutdown, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

The online survey, based on responses from 1,407 registered voters, found that 61 percent of respondents believe Trump should OK legislation insulating Mueller’s probe from potential White House interference to avert a looming shutdown when funding runs out on Friday.

{mosads}That’s compared to 39 percent who said that the president should not sign such a measure.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has indicated that Democrats could block a federal spending measure unless Trump signs such legislation.

Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), has already said that he will halt the bill.

Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to shut down the government if lawmakers do not approve $5 billion in funding for construction of his long-promised wall along the U.S. southern border.

Senate Democrats have agreed to a bipartisan Homeland Security Department funding bill that would set aside $1.6 billion for border security.

Congress currently faces a crucial Dec. 7 deadline to fund the government. But congressional leaders are said to be considering extending that deadline until after the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday at the age of 94.

Unlike the measure protecting the special counsel investigation, most respondents to the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll — 53 percent — said Democrats should not approve funding for the border wall to avoid a partisan shutdown.

By comparison, 47 percent said that congressional Democrats should agree to the border wall funding to avert a potential shutdown, the survey found.

But respondents by-and-large disapproved of the idea of Congress and Trump using the threat of a shutdown to advance their policy priorities. Sixty-two percent said that they oppose such maneuvering, while 38 percent voiced their approval of the tactics, according to the survey.

More than two-thirds of respondents — 69 percent — said they believe lawmakers and the White House should compromise to avert a government shutdown, the poll found. Fewer than one-third — 31 percent — said politicians should “stick to their principles” in the funding fight.

Members of both parties have insisted that they do not want a government shutdown.

A meeting between Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was canceled on Monday in the wake of Bush’s death, delaying critical talks ahead of the Friday funding deadline.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll online survey of 1,407 registered voters was conducted Nov. 27-28. The margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll. The Hill will be working with Harvard/Harris Poll throughout 2018.

Full poll results will be posted online later this week. The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.