Report: 70% of Americans Want $1,400 Stimulus Checks—Or More

The February 2021 Daily Kos/Civiqs Poll asked 1,513 registered voters in the United States about President Trump’s second impeachment trial, the coronavirus stimulus proposal, college debt, and the United States Postal Service.

The Second Impeachment of Donald Trump

In January, the House of Representatives impeached President Trump for incitement of insurrection following the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. A majority of Americans (53%) think that Trump is “a great deal” to blame for the January 6th attack. The partisan divide on this question is immense. Only 9% of Republicans say that Trump is to blame, compared to 94% of Democrats. Fully 79% of Republicans believe that Trump is “not at all” to blame.

Despite Trump’s acquittal in the United States Senate, 53% of Americans believe that Trump’s conduct was grounds for impeachment. Another 12% think that his conduct was improper, but did not rise to the level of impeachment. A third (34%) think he did nothing wrong.

A majority (54%) of Americans support the U.S. Senate barring Trump from holding any federal office in the future. This includes 96% of Democrats, 48% of Independents, and 10% of Republicans.

Coronavirus Relief Bill

As the coronavirus pandemic continues into its second year, the Biden administration has proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus relief bill. Overall, 54% of Americans support this package.

The bill would send $1,400 to eligible recipients. Nearly three-quarters of Americans (70%) either support this amount (46%) or think that it should be higher (24%). Support for the payments crosses party lines, with 96% of Democrats, but also 65% of Independents, and 42% of Republicans.

Young voters are most interested in a higher relief payment. Nearly half (45%) of Americans aged 18-34 think the government should send more than $1,400, compared to only 13% of those 65 or older who want a larger amount.

College Tuition and Student Loans

A significant 36% of Americans believe that college education should be free. This is by far the majority view with Democrats, with 64% support. Among young people, 42% of those aged 18-34 support free college education. Notably, there is no significant difference in attitudes by level of education: Americans without a college degree support free college tuition at the same rate as those with a college or postgraduate degree.

By a margin of 49% to 41%, most Americans would support the Biden administration cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers. Even 47% of those without a college degree support the proposal. The action has the backing of 84% of Democratic voters.

The United States Postal Service

Two-thirds of Americans have noticed unusual delays in their mail service over the past several months: 44% have noticed some delays, and 24% have experienced severe delays. The issues are concentrated in the northeastern states, where only one in five (21%) say that their mail service has not been impacted.

The Biden administration would have the support of 49% of Americans for replacing the current members of the USPS Board of Governors, including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Only 18% of Americans oppose this action, with 33% indifferent or unsure.

Civiqs surveyed 1,513 registered voters in the United States from February 12-15, 2021. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.15. The survey has a margin of error of ±2.7% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.