- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emerges as the most favorably viewed political figure with 47% approval and significant cross-party support, while Elon Musk appears as the most polarizing figure.
- The poll also shows how popular or unpopular congressional leaders are, including Sens. John Thune and Chuck Schumer, Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
- Republicans are excited about Trump's picks, while Democrats and Independents are not.
A Deseret News/HarrisX national poll from February shows how the public feels about some of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, as well as their views on U.S. congressional leadership.
The poll was conducted among 1,009 Americans, with representative samples of Republicans, Democrats and independents. The poll was conducted on Feb. 14-15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
RFK Jr. viewed most positively
The person who received the highest percentage of people saying they had a favorable view of him was the newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who scored an overall 47% favorable rating, while 38% of respondents said they have an unfavorable view and only 2% of respondents saying they don’t know who he is.
Kennedy also had the highest difference between favorable and unfavorable ratings compared to other Cabinet picks and members of Congress. Among Trump’s Cabinet picks included in the poll, Kennedy drew the most support across the aisle as well.
The head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, was only seen as favorable by 41% of respondents, while 47% said they have an unfavorable view of the richest man in the world.
The polarizing views of Musk have shown up on the national stage, as some have lauded and applauded Musk — particularly on the political right — while, on the political left, Democratic lawmakers joined an anti-Musk protest at the beginning of February.
Lesser-known figures strike more even favorability
Not surprisingly, Trump’s picks were very popular with Republican respondents, but were not viewed favorably by Democrats. All of them except for Kennedy were also under water with independents.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was a longtime senator and former Republican presidential candidate, was seen favorably by 37% of all respondents, while 34% had an unfavorable view of him, and 13% did not know who he was.
U.S. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, was the only congressional leader who was more likely to be rated unfavorably than favorably, with 32% saying they have a favorable view and 37% saying unfavorable. For Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, 32% of Americans view him favorably while 30% view him unfavorably. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had a 28% to 27% favorable to unfavorable split.
Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the newest congressional leader on the scene, is also the most unknown of the four leaders. While 22% say they view him favorably, compared to 20% unfavorably, another 33% say they’ve never heard of him. Thune has served as a senator for South Dakota since 2005 and was elected by the Senate to serve as Senate majority leader in January, 2025.
Several of Trump’s cabinet picks were also not well known by survey respondents.
Almost a quarter of Americans said they’d never heard of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had a favorable to unfavorable rating of 31% to 27%, or Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose rating was 28% to 27%.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Musk as one of the only picks to be under water, with 27% of Americans saying they view him favorably compared to 31% who don’t. A third of respondents say they haven’t heard of him.