Fifty-six percent of voters say if members of the Biden administration refuse to comply with subpoenas from Congress, they should be sentenced to prison, according to a Rasmussen Reports Poll.
Just 21% disagree and 24% are unsure.
While the poll found 94% of likely U.S. voters consider the rule of law important, including 82% who say it is very important, Republicans (72%) are far more in favor of following the rule of law on contempt of Congress than Democrats (45%).
Despite that latter data, 84% of Democrats exceed the 80% of Republicans and 81% of unaffiliated voters who consider the rule of law very important to ensure public officials are held to the same standard of justice as other citizens.
The House has held Biden administration Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to hand over recordings of President Joe Biden's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.
The 216-207 vote fell along party lines, with Republicans coalescing behind the contempt effort despite reservations among some of the party's more centrist members.
Conversely, a federal judge has ordered former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon to report to prison July 1 for defying a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select that was constructed by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., without Republican say on who sits on the panel.
Just Democrats and two openly anti-Trump former Republicans were given seats by Pelosi as then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pulled GOP involvement because Pelosi rejected his party's appointments to the panel. Pelosi said she would not accept McCarthy's GOP appointments because they supported former President Donald Trump.
The Department of Justice had requested that Bannon begin his four-month prison term in connection with his contempt of Congress conviction, ABC News reported.
Sixty-two percent of voters approve of the prison sentence for Bannon, including 41% who strongly approve. In the latest Rasmussen survey, 29% disapprove of Bannon being sentenced to prison, including 15% who strongly disapprove.
Partisan conflict over the rule of law is animating the 2024 presidential campaign.
More Democrats (77%) than Republicans (44%) approve of Bannon being sentenced to prison. Among unaffiliated voters, 63% approve of Bannon's prison sentence and 26% disapprove.
Majorities of all racial categories approve of prison sentences both for Bannon and for Biden administration officials who refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas. Whites (87%) are more likely than Black voters (71%), Hispanics (73%), or other minorities (71%) to say the rule of law is very important.
More men (61%) than women voters (51%) think Biden administration officials who refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas should be sent to prison.
Older voters are more likely than those under 40 to say the rule of law is very important. Voters 65 and older are less in favor of sending Biden administration officials to prison for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas.
President Joe Biden's strongest supporters are least likely to favor punishing members of his administration for contempt of Congress, but most favor sending Bannon to prison. Among voters who strongly approve of Biden's job performance as president, only 31% say Biden administration officials who refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas should be sent to prison, while 84% strongly approve of Bannon's prison sentence.
By contrast, among voters who strongly disapprove of Biden's performance, 80% would send Biden administration officials to prison for defying congressional subpoenas, but just 15% strongly approve of Bannon's sentence.
The Pulse Opinion Research survey of 1,075 U.S. likely voters was conducted June 10-12 for Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.