Gallup: Congress’ Approval Rating Sinks to 21%

More than three-fourths of Americans say they disapprove of the job that Congress is doing, while only 21 percent approve of the legislators’ work, according to a new poll by Gallup.

Congress saw a brief spike in approval ratings of 31 percent in 2020, following the passing of emergency relief bills for the COVID-19 pandemic but those ratings have rescinded back to levels from last fall, according to the polling agency.

Democratic respondents’ approval of Congress has seen a notable decline.

Between December 2020 and February 2021, Congress saw up to 61 percent approval rating from Democrats after they took control of the White House, Senate and House, but in the poll out Friday, the approval rating of Congress among Democrats was just 35 percent after having previously sunk to a low of 26 percent.

Gallup notes that Democratic respondents are likely frustrated by legislative delays in social, infrastructure and voting rights bills despite the party holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, notes Gallup.

Congressional approval is even lower among independent voters and Republicans, as independents give Congress an 18 percent approval rating and Republicans only an 8 percent approval, reports Gallup.

The Gallup poll was conducted from March 1 to March 18, shortly before the Senate Judiciary Committee began its confirmation hearings for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The Gallup polls were conducted over the phone with a sample of 1,017 adults ages 18 and up, across all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Gallup’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence interval.