Sherwood News

America’s favorite (and least favorite) federal agencies

While the next government hangs in the balance, certain branches are simply more popular than others

7/29/24 9:06AM

Though we’re still months out from November, the presidential election race is getting more heated by what feels like the second, as an exceptionally eventful July obfuscated and even annulled some predictions of what the next US government might look like.

However, with the future heads of public bodies undecided (but hotly contested), politically weary Americans now have a less favorable view of nearly all federal agencies that comprise the US administration, according to recent surveys from Pew Research Center.

Out of the Depts

Indeed, Veterans Affairs was the only service that became more favorable in the public eye over that period. Knocking the Postal Service off of its (somewhat inexplicable) top spot, the National Park Service, with all its associated canyons and critters, was America’s favorite federal agency in 2023 — 81% of respondents had a favorable view and just 7% had an unfavorable view of the agency.

NASA — no stranger to both good and bad press in recent times — saw a slight decline in overall positive attitudes over the same timeframe. Net negative views of both the Department of Education and the IRS were recorded for the first time in last year’s survey, and although the tax-collecting IRS was, unsurprisingly, the least popular agency in 2023, what is perhaps surprising is that it was once much more popular: in 2019, respondents had a net favorable view of the agency by +15 percentage points.

Rani Molla

9/2/25

Google soars on court ruling that doesn’t force the search giant to sell Chrome

Google has $26 billion in deals with companies like Samsung and Apple.

Max Knoblauch

8/21/25

Hertz falls, erasing its Amazon bump, as Congress looks into its AI damage scanners

Hertz shares are trading down more than 5% on Thursday.

Max Knoblauch

8/20/25

Airbus faces a 10-day strike from UK workers, mirroring Boeing’s labor strife

Thousands of UK union Airbus workers plan to strike for 10 days in September amid a contract dispute.

The union workers build wings for Airbus’ commercial jets, threatening a production slowdown for the European plane maker.

As Airbus’ labor tension builds, rival Boeing’s has already boiled over: earlier this month, more than 3,000 Boeing workers who build military aircraft started a strike that remains ongoing. The action came less than a year after the company faced a two-month stoppage from a machinist strike.

Airbus, for now, says it doesn’t see the strikes affecting full-year deliveries.

Airbus UK workers to strike for 10 days over pay

Airbus, for now, says it doesn’t see the strikes affecting full-year deliveries.

Rani Molla

8/20/25

Elon Musk’s political party isn’t happening, as Tesla CEO gives up on the “America Party”

In July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his own political party, the America Party — a move intended to “give you back your freedom.” What it did at the time was invoke the wrath of President Donald Trump and send the stock down.

A month and a half later, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Musk is “pumping the brakes” on his third party.

According to the Journal, “Musk has told allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is reluctant to alienate powerful Republicans by starting a third party that could siphon off GOP voters.” He also wants to maintain ties with Vice President JD Vance, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate for 2028.

What happened?

For one, earlier this month Tesla’s board approved a roughly $30 billion interim pay package that Musk will only realize if he remains at the company for two years.

The stock isn’t moving on the news so far, but investors and analysts typically see Musk’s focus on his public company as a good thing.

Exclusive | Elon Musk Pledged to Start a Political Party. He Is Already Pumping the Brakes.

What happened?

For one, earlier this month Tesla’s board approved a roughly $30 billion interim pay package that Musk will only realize if he remains at the company for two years.

The stock isn’t moving on the news so far, but investors and analysts typically see Musk’s focus on his public company as a good thing.

Nexstar, the US’s largest local TV broadcaster, is looking to get bigger with a $6.2 billion megamerger

TV broadcaster Nexstar plans to merge with smaller rival Tegna, testing the Trump administration’s consolidation appetite.

Max Knoblauch8/19/25