New WA-05 Poll Finds Voters Want Cathy McMorris Rodgers to Hold Administration Accountable for Family Separation Crisis
Months After Man-Made Crisis Started, McMorris Rodgers has Failed to Deliver Results
08.03.18 – Equity Forward Action today released a new poll which captures Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ constituents’ views on the Trump Administration’s child separation policy and Congress’ role in holding the administration accountable for the policy. Voters in WA-05 make it clear that McMorris Rodgers has not done enough on the issue of family separations at the border and they want to see Congressional action to hold those responsible accountable.View the Polls & Memo HERE.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the fourth most powerful member of the House of Representatives and sits on the Energy & Commerce Committee, which has direct oversight responsibilities of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agencies responsible for caring for and housing the migrant children separated from their families. While McMorris Rodgers has said she’s concerned with the administration’s policy, she has not conducted any meaningful oversight of the policy or held any administration officials accountable for their conduct.
Even though voters in McMorris Rodgers’ district lean toward Republicans on party self-identification, half of her constituents (50%) say McMorris Rodgers has not done enough on the issue and nearly two-thirds of voters (66%) across the district say they want Congress to act by increasing the accountability and transparency of the agencies and officials overseeing the separated children.
Additionally, while the vast majority of voters (82%) say that the Trump Administration has a responsibility to reunite these children with their parents, more than half (54%) say they have “very little” confidence that the Trump Administration will meet the deadline to reunite these families. Over three-quarters of voters (79%) said they would have a more favorable view of their Representative if she supported legislation to increase transparency on this issue and most voters (70%) also said they would be more favorable towards her if she called for the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement– an Office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which is charged with caring for the children and returning them to their parents, to testify before Congress about the reunification efforts and treatment of the children in its care. As the poll was fielded, hundreds of children separated from their families remained in ORR custody.
“For months, the administration separated children from their families at the border. HHS hasn’t been transparent about how these children are being cared for, or in what conditions. What has Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers done? She has failed to take any meaningful action to solve the problem or hold those responsible for their conduct,” said Mary Alice Carter, Executive Director of Equity Forward. “McMorris Rodgers has broad oversight of the agencies tasked with handling this manufactured crisis. It’s time for McMorris Rodgers to do her job, get to the bottom of what happened, and hold the Trump Administration responsible for this cruel policy.”
The poll was released as part of “HHS Watch” an Equity Forward project to promote transparency and accountability at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About this polling
Global Strategy Group conducted surveys of 400 likely 2018 Midterm election voters in Washington’s 5th Congressional District between July 24-26, 2018. The results of each survey have a margin of error of +/-4.9%. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the expected electorate are properly represented based on historical turnout.
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