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| Federal workers attend a leadership seminar for Asian American employees. |
A new poll says only 12% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults support eliminating federal agencies—significantly lower than the 23% of the general population who disapprove the chaos sown by the two-headed beast of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
“The survey reveals that the frustration AAPI communities have with government bureaucracy does not equate to support for drastic cuts,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data and researcher at UC Berkeley.
AANHPI sentiment may be affected by the fact that Asian Americans make up 7.1% of the federal workforce, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The survey, released March 13 from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, shows that everyday expenses such as the cost of groceries and gas prices still weighs heavily for the AANHPI respondents and needs to be addressed by the Donald Trump administration.
The respondents to the poll say Congress should prioritize addressing the costs of health care (79%), food (67%), and housing (61%). About 4 in 10 say the same about the cost of aging and long-term care (45%), childcare (43%), higher education (42%), gas (42%), and home energy (37%).
Many AANHPI adults believe the government is spending too little on a variety of policy areas, with education (64%) and healthcare (59%) topping the list. Similar shares also say funding is insufficient for tackling homelessness (57%), environmental protection (57%), childcare (56%), crime (54%), and drug addiction (48%), according to the survey.
Similar to the general population who were asked in January 2025, AAPI adults show little support for major changes to the federal workforce under Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. About 4 in 10 AAPI and US adults support a proposal that would bring federal employees back to an office five days a week, roughly a quarter favor moving federal agencies outside Washington, D.C. and cutting a large number of federal jobs.
The survey, released March 13 from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, shows that everyday expenses such as the cost of groceries and gas prices still weighs heavily for the AANHPI respondents and needs to be addressed by the Donald Trump administration.
“AAPI communities want the federal government to do more and deliver effectively on key issues like education, health care, homelessness, and environmental protection,” says Ramakrishnan.
The respondents to the poll say Congress should prioritize addressing the costs of health care (79%), food (67%), and housing (61%). About 4 in 10 say the same about the cost of aging and long-term care (45%), childcare (43%), higher education (42%), gas (42%), and home energy (37%).
Many AANHPI adults believe the government is spending too little on a variety of policy areas, with education (64%) and healthcare (59%) topping the list. Similar shares also say funding is insufficient for tackling homelessness (57%), environmental protection (57%), childcare (56%), crime (54%), and drug addiction (48%), according to the survey.
Defense is the only area where relatively few (12%) say spending is too low and about half (52%) believe the government spends too much.
“The data show that amid economic uncertainty, AAPI adults—like much of the U.S. public—are focused on basic necessities,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The AP-NORC Center. “Healthcare, food, and housing costs remain at the forefront of their concerns, reinforcing the importance of economic stability, which has consistently emerged as a major issue for AAPI communities.”
“The data show that amid economic uncertainty, AAPI adults—like much of the U.S. public—are focused on basic necessities,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The AP-NORC Center. “Healthcare, food, and housing costs remain at the forefront of their concerns, reinforcing the importance of economic stability, which has consistently emerged as a major issue for AAPI communities.”
Similar to the general population who were asked in January 2025, AAPI adults show little support for major changes to the federal workforce under Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. About 4 in 10 AAPI and US adults support a proposal that would bring federal employees back to an office five days a week, roughly a quarter favor moving federal agencies outside Washington, D.C. and cutting a large number of federal jobs.
Other highlights of the survey include:
- As parts of the country grapple with a measles outbreak, about 6 in 10 AAPI adults are concerned that declining vaccination rates will lead to more disease outbreaks (64%) and deaths (61%).
- On immigration policy, 31% of AAPI adults believe local police should always cooperate with federal immigration authorities on deportations, compared to 42% of the general population. More people in both groups support cooperation in some cases (56% vs. 49%), while relatively few say local police should never cooperate with federal authorities (13% vs. 8%).
- About 4 in 10 support increasing green cards for backlogged countries (44%), worker visas (43%), and family-sponsored green cards (40%), though nearly as many prefer to keep current levels unchanged. Student visas receive the least support for expansion at 34%, with half (50%) preferring no change.
- Most Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults think healthcare (79%), food (67%), and housing (61%) costs should be top priorities for the federal government to tackle. Many think that the government spends too little on key priorities, with education (64%) and healthcare (59%) topping the list.
- AAPI adults show little support for major changes proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. Just 12% of AAPI adults support eliminating federal agencies—significantly lower than the 23% of the general population.
- At least 6 in 10 AAPI adults see corruption (72%), inefficiency (68%), and red tape (61%) as major problems in federal government, indicating that the issues AAPI adults have with government bureaucracy does not equate to support for drastic cuts.
- AAPI adults largely trust doctors (74%) and nurses (72%) to act in their best interest, similar to the general population. And regarding the high cost of healthcare in the U.S., most AAPI adults hold pharmaceutical companies (77%) and private health insurers (73%) responsible.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.
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