An honorable federal government is essential. But it’s as essential that the American people believe that it is honorable. It’s crucial that we have trust in the fact that: Our Constitution is being interpreted objectively; our judiciary dispenses justice impartially; our election commissions count votes accurately; our U.S. intelligence agencies act honorably; our scientific institutions research intelligently; our global alliances promote positivity; universities teach judiciously; private enterprise builds wealth honestly; media reports independently; and that our federal, state and local agencies operate autonomously.
Donald Trump’s attempts to destroy our trust and faith in these institutions is one of the most destructive things he has done. No political figure – much less U.S. president – has ever undermined and assailed basic democratic principles like he has (read more here).
His job was made far easier by the fact that many Americans had been losing faith in their government for decades. Political scandals like Watergate and the Iran-Contra Affair – along with the corruption introduced by powerful lobbyists and well-financed special interests – began to erode the public’s trust in its leaders and planted seeds of anger, disappointment and disrespect toward the White House, Congress, and other government institutions.
At the same time, the energy crisis in the 1970s, the savings and loans fiasco, and massive accounting scandals planted seeds of anger and animosity toward private enterprise, well before the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis solidified the outrage. The subprime bank bailout was particularly hard to swallow because the United States has consistently had the largest wealth divide between the rich and the poor for decades. Meanwhile, moral catastrophes like the My Lai massacre, the Iraq invasion, Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, and Hurricane Katrina called into question our national core values and threatened our global image.
The loss of trust is understandable, but we must put an end to this – quickly – because these American institutions are the backbone of our democracy. To be a healthy, highly functioning society, we MUST ALL have confidence that all our institutions are competent and acting in all our best interests.
This can absolutely be done, but we have A LOT of work to do. Americans’ trust in their government remains near historic lows. In 2025, just 17 percent said they trusted the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time” – one of the lowest readings in nearly seven decades of polling.
Confidence in Congress is similarly dismal. In July 2026, 72 percent of Americans viewed Congress unfavorably, while just 25 percent viewed it favorably. And back in 2023, a Pew survey found that an extraordinary 85 percent of Americans said elected officials don’t care what people like them think.
Then there is the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2022, Gallup reported that Americans’ opinions of the Court were the worst they have been in 50 years of polling. Just 47 percent of Americans said they had “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the federal judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court – a 20-point collapse in just two years and, at the time, the lowest level Gallup had ever recorded. In September 2025, just 49 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or fair amount of trust in the judicial branch – still near the historic low and far below the levels of 60 to 70 percent or more that were common for decades.
There are clearly some seriously shady shenanigans going on. For the most part, we believe the best way to fight many of these is to just bust up the existing game of politics, like we’re doing with 1787. After all, these shady practices are not the root of our problems… most of them are just unfortunate consequences of a severely broken system.
Unfortunately, there are certain things that are too destructive to our democracy to wait out – and addressing these issues can help begin restoring the American people's trust in our government. We'll say again: Every challenge we face is important, but we must get a handle on these things quickly because an honorable, resilient federal government is the bedrock of everything else we do.
