Trust in Congress Below 20% Third Month in a Row

In the first few months after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, Congress approval ratings among the general public were at their highest points in over a decade. The picture is decidedly different today, with the percentage of people satisfied with how lawmakers in the House and Senate are doing their jobs dropping below or just at 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

According to results from the most recent Gallup Poll Social Series conducted from September 1 to 23, 17 percent of respondents thought Congress was doing a good job, only one percent shy of this presidential term's lowest approval ratings of 16 percent in June 2022 and April 2023. While no specific reasons are given for the low ratings, March 2023 saw the U.S. face several disastrous tornado outbreaks and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. In May 2022, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history occurred in Uvalde, Texas and Roe vs. Wade as well as Planned Parenthood vs. Casey were overturned.

When looking at Gallup data for approval of Congress since 1974, one specific period shows adults in the United States showing overwhelmingly positive feelings towards U.S. representatives. In October and November 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, approval ratings reached 84 and 73 percent, respectively. Apart from this turning point in foreign and domestic politics, only rarely did Congress receive good marks from more than 40 percent of respondents.