As a new President and Congress take office and pursue their policy agendas, overwhelming majorities of voters are calling for a renewed commitment to stabilize America’s $36 trillion and rising national debt.  With critical tax policy deadlines approaching, 78% of voters say that any changes to tax policy should not add to the national debt, according to a new national survey commissioned by the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

This poll, jointly conducted by Democratic firm Global Strategy Group and Republican firm North Star Opinion Research, finds:

• 84% of voters, including 78% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans, agree that in 2025 stabilizing the national debt should be at the top of lawmakers’ list of priorities;
• 84% agree that any bill passed by Congress should reduce the deficit by raising revenue, cutting spending or both; and
• 76% agree that any budget bill passed by Congress should be deficit neutral compared to current-law levels.

More broadly, the U.S. Fiscal Confidence Index remains low to start the New Year at 57 (100 is neutral), with 78% of voters reporting that their concern about the national debt has increased.

“As a new president and Congress take office, voters across the political spectrum see the need to prioritize addressing our $36 trillion and rising national debt,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation. “When it comes to the major tax reform debate in 2025, Americans are clear that lawmakers should ‘do no fiscal harm’ by making sure that any changes to the tax system don’t make our debt any worse. We’re already on track to add $22 trillion more in new debt over the next ten years, including $14 trillion in interest payments, so the time to act is now.”

The Fiscal Confidence Index measures public opinion about the national debt by asking six questions in three key areas:

• CONCERN: Level of concern and views about the direction of the national debt.
• PRIORITY: How high a priority addressing the debt should be for elected leaders.
• EXPECTATIONS: Expectations about whether the debt situation will get better or worse in the next few years.  

The survey results from these three areas are weighted equally and averaged to produce the Fiscal Confidence Index value. The Fiscal Confidence Index, like the Consumer Confidence Index, is indexed on a scale of 0 to 200, with a neutral midpoint of 100. A reading above 100 indicates positive sentiment. A reading below 100 indicates negative sentiment.

Fiscal Confidence Index Key Data Points: 

• The January 2025 Fiscal Confidence Index value is 57. (The December and November 2024 values were 54.)
• The current Fiscal Confidence Index score for CONCERN about the debt is 50, indicating deep concern about the debt. The score for debt as a PRIORITY that leaders must address is 25, indicating that Americans want elected leaders to make addressing long-term debt a high priority. The score for EXPECTATIONS about progress on the debt is 96. The Fiscal Confidence Index is the average of these three sub-category scores.

This online poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters nationwide between January 21 and January 23, 2025. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

Detailed results can be found online at www.pgpf.org/FiscalConfidenceIndex.