What government programs should be slashed? NASA nears top of list, poll finds

Brendan Rascius, The Charlotte Observer on May 22, 2025

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So much for shooting for the moon.

Most Americans are on board with slashing space exploration funding in order to rein in federal spending, according to new polling.

In the latest Marquette Law School Poll, 63% of respondents said they would be willing to reduce spending on NASA and its space program to shrink the federal budget deficit. Meanwhile, just 37% said they would not be willing to cut it.

And just 5% said sending astronauts to Mars or back to the moon is a major priority, while 39% said this is important, but not a top concern. A majority, 56%, said it should not be a priority at all.

The poll comes shortly after President Donald Trump proposed slashing NASA’s funding by $6 billion, representing a roughly 24% budget cut for the space agency, according to Politico.

In response, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — who spearheaded Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — called the reported plan “troubling” in an April post on X, according to The Hill.

“I am very much in favor of science, but unfortunately cannot participate in NASA budget discussions, due to SpaceX being a major contractor to NASA,” Musk wrote.

Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also criticized the proposed cut, accusing the president of taking a “chainsaw and a meat-ax” to the agency, according to Politico.

Cuts to other programs

The poll — which sampled 1,004 U.S. adults May 5-15 — also asked respondents about cutting funding for six other programs and areas.

A majority were supportive of cutting the size of the federal workforce. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 65%, were on board with this, while 35% opposed it.

Respondents were less enthusiastic about tampering with funds for other areas.

Most of them, 54%, said they opposed cutting defense spending, while 46% came out in favor of it, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of /plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

And 71% said they opposed reducing spending on medical research grants, while 28% said they’d be willing to make cuts to this funding.

Overall, respondents were most wary of shrinking entitlement spending.

Vast majorities opposed cutting funding for Medicaid (83% vs. 17%), Social Security (90% vs. 10%) and Medicare (92% vs. 8%).

Two of these programs — Medicare and Medicaid — are subject to significant proposed funding cuts in the Republican-backed budget resolution, which narrowly passed the House on May 22. On the flip side, the bill increased funding for the Defense Department.

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