This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 8-11, 2019 among a
random national sample of 788 adults with 58 percent reached on cell phones and 42
percent on landlines. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of 4.5 percentage
points, including design effects due to weighting. Sampling, data collection and
tabulation by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pa.
(Full methodological details appended at the end.)
*= less than 0.5 percent
1. As you may know, the federal government has been partially shut down because (Donald
Trump and Republicans in Congress) and (Democrats in Congress) cannot agree on laws
about border security. Who do you think is mainly responsible for this situation –
(Trump and Republicans in Congress) or (Democrats in Congress)?

1/11/19

Trump and Republicans
in Congress
53

Democrats
in Congress
29

Both equally
(vol.)
13

Neither
(vol.)
2

No opinion
4

Compare to:
As you may know, the federal government might have to partially shut down later this
week if (Trump and Republicans in Congress) and (Democrats in Congress) cannot agree on
laws about immigration and border security. Who do you think is mainly responsible for
this situation - (Trump and Republicans in Congress) or (the Democrats in Congress)?

1/18/18

Trump and Republicans
in Congress
48

Democrats in
Congress
28

Both
(vol.)
18

Neither
(vol.)
1

No
opinion
5

2. Have you personally been inconvenienced by the partial shutdown of the federal
government, or not? (IF YES) Has it been a major inconvenience or a minor inconvenience?
---- Yes, inconvenienced ----NET
Major
Minor
No op.
1/11/19
18
7
10
1
10/20/13*
22
11
11
0
1/7/96*
12
4
8
NA
1/3/96
12
5
6
11/19/95
12
6
6
"
*Phrased in past tense

No
82
78
88
88
88

No opinion
1
*
*
1
*

3. How much of a problem, if at all, would it be if the government shutdown continues
for several months? Would this be a crisis, a serious problem but not a crisis, or would
this not be a serious problem?

1/11/19

A crisis
38

A serious problem
but not a crisis
41

Not a serious
problem
18

Not a problem
(vol.)
1

No opinion
2

4. Do you support or oppose building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico? Do you
feel that way strongly or somewhat?

1/11/19
1/18/18
9/21/17
1/15/17
9/8/16*

-------- Support -------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
42
29
13
34
25
9
37
27
10
37
25
12
34
24
10

-------- Oppose --------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
54
15
38
63
11
52
62
9
53
60
13
47
63
11
52

No
opinion
4
3
1
3
3

 *Do you support or oppose building a wall across the entire U.S. border with Mexico? Do
you feel that way strongly or somewhat?
5. (ASK IF OPPOSE THE WALL OR NO OPINION/REFUSED) Do you think Democrats in Congress
should continue to refuse funding for a border wall even if it extends the government
shutdown, or should they compromise on this to end the shutdown?

1/11/19

Dems should
refuse funding
48

Dems should
compromise
45

No
opinion
7

4/5 Net table:

1/11/19

Support
border
wall
42

---------- Oppose border wall ---------Dems should
Dems should
No
NET
refuse funding
compromise
op.
54
27
23
4

No
opinion
4

6. (ASK IF SUPPORT THE WALL OR NO OPINION/REFUSED) Do you think Trump should continue to
demand funding for a border wall even if it extends the government shutdown, or should
he compromise on this to end the shutdown?

1/11/19

Trump should
demand funding
52

Trump should
compromise
41

No
opinion
7

4/6 Net table:

1/11/19

--------- Support border wall ----------Trump should
Trump should
No
NET
demand funding
compromise
op.
42
24
16
2

Oppose
border
wall
54

No
opinion
4

7. Presidents can declare a state of national emergency, giving them special powers to
take action without approval from Congress. Do you support or oppose Trump using
emergency powers to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border? Do you feel that way
strongly or somewhat?

1/11/19

-------- Support -------NET
Strongly
Somewhat
31
25
6

-------- Oppose --------NET
Somewhat
Strongly
66
14
51

No
opinion
4

8. Do you think the situation with illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border is
currently a crisis, a serious problem but not a crisis, or not a serious problem?

1/11/19

A crisis
24

A serious problem
but not a crisis
47

Not a serious
problem
26

Not a problem
(vol.)
1

No opinion
1

Party ID. Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a...
1/11/18
11/1/18
10/11/18
8/29/18
4/11/18
1/18/18

Democrat
31
32
33
33
32
31

Republican
26
25
26
25
25
23

Independent
39
35
35
37
35
40

Other (vol.)
1
4
4
3
5
4

No opinion
3
4
2
3
3
2

2

 *** END ***
METHODOLOGICAL DETAILS
This poll was sponsored and funded by The Washington Post and ABC News and is a random
sample adults of the United States, including interviews in English and Spanish. This
questionnaire was administered with the exact questions in the exact order as appears in
this document unless otherwise noted. These questions were part of an “omnibus” survey
in which other questions were asked before or after these questions.
A dual frame landline and cellular phone telephone sample was generated by Marketing
Systems Group (MSG) using Random Digit Dialing procedures. Interviewers called landlines
cellular phone numbers, first requesting to speak with the youngest adult male or female
at home. The final sample included 329 interviews completed on landlines and 459
interviews completed via cellular phones, including 284 interviews with adults in cell
phone-only households.
This survey uses statistical weighting procedures to account for differential chances of
being selected due to landline and cellular phone access and household size. Weighting
also corrects for deviations in the survey sample from known population characteristics,
which helps correct for differential survey participation and random variation in
samples.
The overall adult sample is weighted using a raking procedure to match the demographic
makeup of the population by sex, region, age, education, race/ethnicity, marital status,
and population density according to Census Bureau estimates. The sample is also weighted
to match phone estimates of the share of the population who are cell phone-only,
landline-only and mixed user populations according to the National Health Interview
Survey.
All error margins have been adjusted to account for the survey’s design effect, which is
1.5 for this survey. The design effect is a factor representing the survey’s deviation
from a simple random sample and takes into account decreases in precision due to sample
design and weighting procedures. Surveys that do not incorporate a design effect
overstate their precision.
Contact polls@washpost.com for further information about how The Washington Post
conducts polls.
The Washington Post is a charter member of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, which
recognizes organizations that disclose key methodological details on the research they
produce.

3