Americans Prepare for Another US Government Shutdown in 2014

Americans are preparing for another US government shutdown in 2014 after a national opinion revealed that two thirds of citizens believe it is likely that a political impasse over the country's debt ceiling will reoccur.

According to a national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America and the American Society of Hematology, 65% of Americans believe that Congress will disagree on the country's deficit and budget issues.

Out of this group, sentiment is shared across all party affiliations; Democrats (66%), Republicans (65%) and Independents (65%).

The partial US government shutdown in October was the first for the government in 17 years.

The last time it was shut down was in 1995-96 when services were suspended for a record 21 days.

More than 800,000 US government workers, including 400,000 from the defence department, were forced to take unpaid leave.

The White House estimated at the time that it would cost the economy $10bn (£6.19bn, €7.4bn).

According to the recent poll, a majority of Americans (57%) say the shutdown in October caused significant harm to many government-funded programs including medical research, defense and education.

However, the percentage from each party agreeing on this subjects differs; Democrats (68%) and about half of Republicans (49%) and Independents (51%) agree.

"Our poll demonstrates uneasiness among many Americans about the ramifications of deep spending cuts to programs that are critical to our health and well-being," said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America.

"Americans want Congress to reach a budget deal that protects medical and health research, at least in part because of concern that our nation is at risk of losing our global leadership position in science and innovation."