Momentum, Mandate, & Musk: Polling Behind Trump’s 2nd Term Agenda

Byline: American Pulse Staff
---

President Trump’s return to Washington wasn’t just ceremonial—it marked the legislative kickoff for a defining feature of his second term: the One Big Beautiful Bill. At the heart of the effort is a sweeping proposal to lock in tax cuts, drive economic growth, and stabilize the border.

American Pulse’s Dustin Olson joined Newsmax’s Wake Up America with Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride to discuss why this legislation is critical not only to Trump’s agenda, but to the future of the country.

Below are highlights from that conversation—plus fresh insights from our latest polling.

☝️ One Big Beautiful Bill: Big Stakes for the Economy

The House passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill is more than a win for Republican leadership—it’s an important moment for President Trump’s broader agenda and the American economy.

With Trump’s 2017 tax cuts set to expire, the risk of a massive tax hike looms large.

“This bill is not just One Big Beautiful Bill, but it's also Too Big to Fail,” Olson said, “not just for President Trump’s second term—but for the trajectory of the economy.”

As Olson noted, failing to pass this legislation would have left American families vulnerable to a huge tax increase, saying, “For an economy that's looking for certainty, this bill is critical to stopping a huge tax hike on the American people.”

Olson noted this bill is a critical inflection point for the Trump Administration and the economy, because had any one of the following things happened—Kamala Harris won, Democrats took either the House or the Senate, or the President and Speaker Johnson failed to get this bill through the House—then the American families would be looking down the barrel of what Olson called the “Largest tax hike in American history.”

Pre-inauguration polling from American Pulse found 62% prioritized the Economy, Inflation, Taxes, and Border Security for Trump’s second-term agenda. Despite any flaws in a bill like this, it largely delivers on those priorities.

Now, we have to get through the Senate, but I do think that, you know, this is extremely important to the Republican majority in the Senate, that it gets passed, because if it doesn't, that will have a big impact on the economy.

🚀 Momentum for 2026: Rising National Mood

The bill’s passage in the House sets the stage for a powerful economic narrative heading into the 2026 midterms. Unlike the 2017 tax package that passed at the end of year one of Trump’s first term, the One Big Beautiful Bill is moving much faster and earlier in his second term.

“If the Senate passes this, they’ll be getting this done nearly six months earlier than they passed Trump’s Christmas tax cuts in 2017,” Olson emphasizes. “That gives the economy time to respond—and potentially enough time for Republicans to show results.”

And the public mood is already shifting.

May’s Harvard-Harris Poll shows a clear and rising sense of optimism:

• 51% view the economy as strong—the highest level recorded since July 2021.
• 57% say we’re not in a recession.
• 50% credit Trump’s policies for economic growth—even before this bill clears the Senate or a potential parade of new trade deals hit the table.

Financial sentiment is also improving at the individual level:

• The percentage of Americans who say their “personal finances are improving” rose by 2 points since April, while those saying their finances are “worsening” dropped by 6 points.

But perhaps the most revealing trend is the one almost no one in the media is talking about:

• A historic swing in the “Right Track / Wrong Track” numbers.
• Since Election Day in the RealClearPolitics Average, net opinion on the direction of the country has improved by +29 points—from –36% to –7%.

That’s one of the fastest reversals in Right Track / Wrong Track sentiment in modern U.S. polling history.

And it’s not just Harvard-Harris or our polling. Every major poll—even the ones hostile to Trump—confirms the same upward trend. More Americans believe the country is on the right track than they did before the election.

With that kind of shift already underway and Republicans delivering on key agenda items, the timing of this bill could prove politically decisive, one way or the other.

🥊 The Fight Ahead

We aren’t out of the woods yet. Even with House passage, the legislation must pass the Senate. And what happens next could determine not just the economy’s trajectory—but control of Congress in 2026.

“The alternative is tax hikes, economic slowdown, and giving Democrats who are a disaster right now the upper hand going into 2026,” he warned. “And after the damage of the last four years, Americans aren’t eager to go back.”

Now the pressure is squarely on Senate Republicans.

“Right now, this is extremely important to the Republican majority in the Senate—that it gets passed,” Olson emphasized. “Because if it doesn't, that will have a big impact on the economy.”

Historically, the party out of power gains ground in the midterms. But that pattern may not hold in 2026—and for once, it’s not bad news for Republicans. In back-to-back Harvard-Harris polls, Republicans have hit their highest approval rating, while Democrats posted their lowest numbers.

That’s not what you expect going into a midterm, especially with an administration making bold moves and a lot of changes. But, as Olson explained, “It’s all focused on what Americans want the administration to be doing.”

As noted earlier, Republicans, for the most part, have staked out positions on common sense policies that Americans widely agree with and want, and yet Democrats have chosen a different path.

“Democrats aren’t focusing on the policies that the American people want, and Republicans are,” Olson said. “And Republicans are getting a benefit for it. But the Republicans in the Senate have to get this bill passed—otherwise they’ll lose it all.”

Failing to pass this bill remains the single biggest threat to President Trump’s agenda, the Republican majorities, and America’s recovery from four years of Democratic deception and disasterous policies. 

And while this One Big Beautiful Bill looks to be Too Big to Fail, the ball is in the Senate Republicans court.

If they let this die, the GOP Senate majority will collapse under the weight of that failure. But if they finish the job—and follow it with a rescission bill to lock in spending cuts—Republicans could possibly defy history in 2026 or at least hold back losses.

📊 Polling Is Clear: Americans Back the D.O.G.E. Mission

Even with House passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the nation’s long-term fiscal picture remains urgent.

As Olson put it, “We’re staring down $36 trillion in debt. Even if this bill helps slow the growth, we’re still an oceanliner heading for an iceberg.”

And to be clear—the iceberg is visible. The question is whether we’ll turn in time.

Enter the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), initiated with Elon Musk as a Special Government Employee, whose 130-day term ends this week. But while his formal tenure may be ending, Olson says the impact is likely just beginning.

“It’s almost like he’s injected new computer code into the system across the federal government,” Olson noted. “You now have abnormally talented people embedded in agencies using new tools, new thinking—and that’s going to have an effect over time. It has to. With $36 trillion in debt, we need it to.”

Elon Musk didn’t just advise from the sidelines. He brought a mission-driven ethos, innovation, and a serious team to Washington—one that’s already resetting expectations across government. The DC blob resisted, but changes are in motion.

And Americans are with the mission of Musk and D.O.G.E.

From the latest Harvard-Harris polling:

• 63% support efforts to cut the size of government
• 67% support cutting $1 trillion in expenditures
• 62% say government spending is filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency
• 80% want to balance the budget, with 78% saying we must do it by cutting spending, not raising taxes
• 62% believe the current debt level is unsustainable
• 55% say D.O.G.E. is helping make major cuts
• Americans may be split 50/50 on D.O.G.E.'s success so far—but they overwhelmingly agree bold action is needed

They may underestimate what’s already been cut—but they know the alternative isn’t working. And let’s be honest: what’s the alternative? Say “pretty please” to the swamp?

D.O.G.E. isn’t just about spreadsheets and budgets. It’s about exposing a system rotted by decades of inertia. The loudest critics aren’t mad because Trump and Musk are wrong—they’re mad because they’re right. When Politico took millions from USAID and then blasted D.O.G.E. for “transparency issues,” it confirmed everything Americans already suspected.

This is what “draining the swamp” actually looks like.

Elon Musk lit the fuse. Now it’s up to Congress to follow through.

Senate Republicans must act—not only to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, but to codify D.O.G.E.'s cuts through a rescission bill. Because most of these reforms can’t be included in reconciliation, and they must be locked in to avoid being reversed by bureaucrats and political enemies.

The Nation owes Elon Musk a debt of gratitude. While the mission isn’t accomplished, it’s in motion.