Most Americans thought Congress was heading for a shutdown before a preliminary deal was struck last week, according to Hill-HarrisX poll published on Monday.
The nationwide survey, which was conducted Dec. 8-9, just before lawmakers reached a deal to avert a shutdown, showed that 61 percent of registered voters said they thought was either “somewhat” or “very likely” that Congress was heading for a government shutdown. Another 39 percent said they thought a shutdown was “somewhat” or “very unlikely.”
Democrats were more inclined to say that Congress was on the brink of a shutdown. Seventy-one percent of Democratic voters said they thought there would be a government shutdown, compared to 55 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of independents.
The survey comes as lawmakers are expected to introduce a year-end government spending deal late Monday. This comes after top House and Senate negotiators reached a deal in principle last Thursday, with staffers hammering out the details over the weekend.
The bill is expected to address a broad range of issues, including everything from coal miners’ health care to election security and the border wall.
A provision, spearheaded by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), is aimed at preserving the health benefits and pensions for tens of thousands of coal miners.
The stopgap spending bill also reportedly includes $425 million for election security, which has become a major issue in recent years following Russia’s interference with the 2016 presidential election.
President Trump’s long-promised border wall, meanwhile, got a boost. Three congressional sources have said that lawmakers have also agreed on $1.375 billion to build physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Hill-HarrisX survey was conducted online among 1,000 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
— Tess Bonn
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