Many Americans don’t think Congress should be spending its time on impeachment, but there is a pretty big split between Democrats and Republicans on this question. Overall, a slight majority (51 percent) of Americans say the process is a bad use of Congress’s time, while 45 percent say it’s a good use of time. But only 25 percent of Democrats say the process has been a bad use of time, compared with 85 percent of Republicans who say the same.

Among those who said impeachment was a bad use of time, a plurality (39 percent) said that it’s because the process distracts Congress from more important issues. Another 33 percent said it’s because Trump didn’t commit an impeachable offense. For those who thought impeachment has been a good use of Congress’s time, a majority (55 percent) said it’s because it’s Congress’s job to investigate potential wrongdoing by the president.1