John Gramlich

What to know about federal grand juries Federal grand juries indict tens of thousands of people per year in the United States.

How unusual is it for federal grand juries to decline to indict someone, as has been happening to the DOJ recently? In the 2016 fiscal year (the most recent with this info), federal grand juries:

—Indicted 55,227 people
—Declined to indict 6 people

Screenshot of a Pew Research Center article about federal grand juries. The article notes that Sol Wachtler, the New York state judge who popularized a now-common expression about grand juries, was himself indicted by grand jury a few years after saying it.

There's been a lot of talk recently about federal grand juries and ham sandwiches. What you may not know is that the New York state judge who popularized the "ham sandwich" line was *himself indicted by a federal grand jury* a few years after saying it. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

What to know about federal grand juries Federal grand juries indict tens of thousands of people per year in the United States.

NEW from @pewresearch.org: Federal grand juries have been taking the extremely unusual step of declining indictments sought by the DOJ.

How unusual? While recent data isn't available, it only happened ~15 times a year nationwide between 2007 and 2016.

Map of the United States showing the counties that were in sustained poverty between 2005 and 2024, based on data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

New from the US Census Bureau: America's poverty map www.census.gov/library/stor...

Bar chart showing American teens' views on whether AI will have a positive or negative effect on them personally over the next 20 years, as well as whether it will have a positive or negative effect on society more broadly. The chart is based on a September/October 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens.

Teens in the US are much more likely to say AI will have a positive than negative effect on them personally over the next 20 years (36% vs. 15%). www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...

Bar chart showing that a majority of teens in the United States say students at their school use AI chatbots to cheat on their schoolwork at least sometimes. The chart is based on a September/October 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens.

59% of teens in the US say students at their school use AI chatbots to cheat on their schoolwork extremely often, very often or somewhat often. www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...

Republicans stare down epic voter enthusiasm gap ahead of 2026 midterms The 14-percentage point advantage is the Democrats’ largest in decades and reflects Republicans’ slippery grasp on power in Washington.

Republicans stare down epic voter enthusiasm gap ahead of 2026 midterms, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds. Gift link->
wapo.st/3MPdeRx

The ‘Mentions’ Market Tries to Predict the Unpredictable: Trump’s Next Words “Mention” markets have exploded in popularity, but even traders complain that they are sometimes gamed by insiders.

Big night for the mentions market. (via @wsj.com)

The partisan trend on this is interesting -- see the Biden era, when no one really felt like their side was winning

Stark partisan divide in who thinks their side is winning and losing in politics In the 10 years that we have asked this question, Americans overall have consistently been more likely to say their side is losing than to say it’s winning.

60% of Republicans say their side in politics has been winning more often than losing on the issues that matter to them. 88% of Democrats say their side has been losing more than winning. It's the widest partisan gap in a decade of @pewresearch.org surveys.

State of the Union 2026: Where Americans stand on key issues facing the nation Ahead of the State of the Union, here’s a look at U.S. public opinion on key policy issues, drawn from recent Pew Research Center surveys.

State of the Union 2026: Where Americans stand on key issues facing the nation

Bar chart showing the percentage of U.S. adults in various religious groups who have a bachelor's degree or more education. The chart is based on Pew Research Center's 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study.

Hindus and Jews are among the most highly educated religious groups in the US, according to a new @pewresearch.org analysis: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Hindus and Jews are much more likely to have a four-year college degree than Americans in other religious groups, according to Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS). Seven-in-ten Hindus and 65% of Jews have a bachelor’s degree or more education. That compares with 35% of U.S. adults overall. On the other end of the spectrum, lower shares of evangelical Protestants (29%) and members of historically Black Protestant denominations (24%) hold college degrees. The shares of college graduates for several other religious groups range from 35% to 45%.

American adults with a four-year college degree
Hindus 70%
Episcopalians 67%
Jews 65%
Agnostics 53%
Atheists 48%
Muslims 44%
Buddhists 41%
Catholics 35%
National average 35%
Evangelicals 29%
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/19/which-us-religious-groups-are-most-highly-educated/

In a @pewresearch.org survey last year, 59% of Republicans in the US agreed with the statement, "Many of the country's problems could be dealt with more effectively if Donald Trump didn't have to worry so much about Congress or the courts." www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Screenshot of a February 2026 U.S. Supreme Court ruling about tariffs.

Supreme Court reporters have my respect for trying to make sense of a ruling like this on a deadline of about 10 minutes. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Email Newsletters as a Source of News Three-in-ten U.S. adults say they at least sometimes get news from newsletters, but many don’t read most of the newsletters they get.

NEW: 3 in 10 Americans often or sometimes get news from email newsletters. But a majority of them don’t end up reading most of the newsletters they receive.

Dot plot showing how Republicans and Democrats in the United States view various voting-related proposals. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

Dot plot showing how major racial and ethnic groups in the United States view various voting-related proposals. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

As these charts show, large majorities in both parties and across racial/ethnic groups also support several other voting proposals, including:

–making early, in-person voting available for at least two weeks before Election Day

–making Election Day a national holiday

Majority of Americans Continue to Back Expanded Early Voting, Voting by Mail, Voter ID President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to end mail-in voting comes as a 58% majority of Americans favor allowing any voter to cast their ballot by mail.

% of US adults who favor requiring all voters to show a government-issued photo ID to vote (from August 2025 @pewresearch.org survey)

Total: 83%

Republican: 95%
Democratic: 71%

White: 85%
Hispanic: 82%
Asian: 77%
Black: 76%

Table showing the most distinctive terms that Republicans and Democrats use when asked in an open-ended survey question what makes them proud of the United States. The table is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

What makes Americans proud of their country? From a new @pewresearch.org survey: "Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to mention President Donald Trump and God, as well as to use the words 'best' and 'greatest.'" www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

6 facts about national pride in the U.S. Republicans and Democrats tend to highlight different sources of pride – a partisan divide that is not as pronounced in most other countries.

NEW: "In a 2025 survey, we asked people in 25 nations to say – in their own words – what makes them proud of their country. In several ways, Americans’ answers stand out from those of people in other countries."

Should Drug Companies Be Advertising to Consumers?

"Only New Zealand and the United States allow direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising." (via @nytimes.com)

Majorities in both parties – 75% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans – say it's extremely or very important to have public discussions about the nation's historical failures and flaws: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Americans think it's just as important to have public discussions about the nation's historical failures and flaws as it is to have discussions about the nation's historical successes and strengths: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Screenshot of an article in The Atlantic about Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security.

"ICE alone got $75 billion of supplemental funding [in July], including $30 billion for operations. DHS could essentially remain shut down for the rest of Trump’s term, and the agency would still see a net funding increase." (via @theatlantic.com) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Religious Diversity Around the World Singapore is the most religiously diverse country, and Yemen the least, as of 2020. The U.S. ranks first among nations with large populations.

🇸🇬 Singapore is the world's most religiously diverse country

31% Buddhist
20% unaffiliated
19% Christian
16% Muslim
5% Hindu
9% other religions

www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...

Chart showing the countries with the most and fewest non-working holidays in 2026. The chart is based on a Pew Research Center analysis of information from Time and Date, as well as national labor codes, government publications and regional news sources.

The US will have 11 non-working holidays this year, including Presidents Day on Monday. That's below the global average of 13. If you want a lot of time off, consider moving to Sri Lanka, which grants a public holiday every time there's a full moon. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Which countries have the most – and fewest – public holidays? Across 190 members of the United Nations we analyzed, the typical country will observe 13 public holidays in 2026.

Last year, Trump said the US has "too many non-working holidays." New @pewresearch.org analysis looks at how the US stacks up internationally in that regard.

The US will have 11 non-working holidays this year, vs. a global median of 13.

How Americans view key members of the Trump administration A 58% majority say they have an unfavorable view of President Donald Trump, and 40% have a favorable view.

NEW: How Americans view key Trump administration officials

Trump, Vance, RFK Jr., Rubio and Hegseth all get more negative than positive reviews from the public, but some of them aren't especially well known. (31% of Americans haven't heard of Hegseth.)

YouTube video by Pew Research Center How do polls work when no one answers the phone anymore?

It might be the #1 question pollsters get from regular folks: "How can you poll people when nobody answers the phone anymore?"

In fact, nearly all pollsters have ditched phone surveys for exactly that reason. New @pewresearch.org video explains:

Screenshot of a Washington Post article about Gallup's decision to discontinue presidential job approval polling after nearly 90 years.

"The firm that pioneered political polling will no longer measure presidential job approval ratings, leaving Americans with a dimmer view into our politics." Gallup to end job approval polls after nearly 90 years. (via @sfcpoll.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...