Less than half of U.S. voters hold a favorable view of the CIA, the nation's top foreign intelligence agency, according to a recent survey.

While the agency has long been the subject of conspiracy theories related to its Cold War operations and clandestine nature, more recent years have seen the agency face scandals of politicization, though nowhere near to the extent of other agencies.

Current CIA Director John Ratcliffe has been relatively out of the national spotlight, especially compared to his domestic counterpart, FBI Director Kash Patel.

Overall, 46% of likely voters held a favorable view of the CIA, in the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, while 41% held an unfavorable view and 12% were unsure.

The results marked a modest decline from the 48% favorability rating the agency held in 2023. In 2026, only 11% of voters held a very favorable opinion of the agency while 14% held a very unfavorable one.

Conducted May 31-June 2, the survey questioned 1,079 likely U.S. voters and has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3%.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.