#presidential-approval

#presidential-approval

The right to vote is often described as the cornerstone of American democracy. Yet the ability to exercise that right depends on something more basic: whether citizens possess the practical means to participate in the systems that govern their lives.

Massachusetts is known for being one of the least transparent states in the country when it comes to the accessibility of public records. The governor, judiciary, and state lawmakers enjoy broad exemptions for compliance with public records requests. There are no independent statewide audits of compliance with public records law.

How it works: Gallup polled a nationally representative sample of about 1,000 people age 15 and older in each of 107 countries from March - October 2025. It asked: "According to you, what is the most important problem your country is facing currently?" Respondents wrote in answers, and Gallup grouped them into buckets. By the numbers: The answer was nearly the same everywhere: The economy was identified by a median of 23% of adults across these countries.

The opinion declared that the emergency powers granted to the president under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not include imposing tariffs. Trump, predictably, was furious about the ruling, vociferously bashing the justices even the ones he appointed and insisting he still could impose tariffs without Congress. Friday evening, he did just that, announcing in a Truth Social post that he was imposing a Global 10% Tariff on all Countries, which will be effective almost immediately.

A recent Gallup survey based on more than 20,000 interviews found Americans' optimism about their future personal lives has fallen to a new low. Gallup released findings this week from their National Health and Well-Being Index, which is based on data collected from thousands throughout the four quarters of the year. More than 22,000 interviews were spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"If you look at the optimism metric for future life, that really came down a lot from 2021 to 2023 and that corresponds really closely with the worst of the inflation crisis," Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup national health and well-being index, told Fortune. "The economic pressures of being able to afford things like food and fuel and gas and healthcare-that really can have a deleterious effect."

Just under half, 45%, of U.S. adults now identify as independents, a new Gallup survey found. That's a substantial shift from 20 years ago, when closer to one-third of Americans said they didn't identify with the Democrats or Republicans. This group appears, increasingly, to be driven by their unhappiness with the party in power, according to Gallup's analysis. That's a dynamic that could be good for Democrats in this year's midterm elections, but doesn't promise lasting loyalty.

The death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother and U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, has the potential to shake the political landscape in ways reminiscent of George Floyd's killing in 2020. The Trump administration initially claimed Good weaponized her vehicle in an act of domestic terrorism, an account that appears to be contradicted by video evidence.