BURSTMost Michigan voters would like to see a state-level agency tasked with making state government more efficient, a new survey found — but that doesn't mean they are fans of tech billionaire Elon Musk's efforts on the federal level through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
An MRG poll, released Tuesday, found that 55 percent of respondents have unfavorable views of Musk and DOGE, while less than a third view them favorably. Of those surveyed, 53 percent said they would like to see a state-based agency dedicated to government efficiency.
"Results show voters like the idea of streamlining government, even if they disapprove of the specific federal approach," MRG President Jenell Leonard said in a statement on the poll's findings.
Musk, a top ally and campaign donor to President Trump, owns at least six prominent tech companies, including the social platform X, electric vehicle maker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. He's faced sharp backlash from critics as he has shifted gears to public service and led the effort to whittle away at government spending.
In a Fox News interview last week, Musk said his team is being thoughtful with the federal cuts, despite criticism.
"They may characterize it as shooting from the hip, but it is anything but that, which is not to say that … we don’t make mistakes," he said at the time. “If we were to approach this with the standard of making no mistakes at all, that would be like saying someone in baseball’s got to bat a thousand. That’s impossible."
The MRG poll found a deep divide in opinions on his efforts along party lines, with near-total disapproval among Democrats driving the overall negative numbers, Leonard noted. She added that the data indicates there is "very little middle ground on Musk's approach."
"Results are telling us it’s not what he is doing, but how he is doing it when it comes to the way
people feel about Musk and his handling of DOGE," she said. "While voters are skeptical of
the current federal DOGE implementation, the underlying concept of a government efficiency
department resonates positively with a majority of Michiganders, particularly Republicans and
independents."
A national Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey in February similarly found widespread support for the idea of an agency that oversees government efficiency, but reactions were split along party lines when asked about DOGE’s access to sensitive information.
More than 70 percent of Republicans surveyed said DOGE employees should be given all government spending data, while almost the same percentage of Democrats said access should be limited. Independents were split almost evenly over how much access DOGE should have, according to the results.
The latest MRG poll was conducted by phone March 24-28, among 602 likely Michigan voters. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.