Public assessment of the United States Congress has hit a new low in the eyes of Americans, with only 13 percent saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job. The 83 percent disapproval rating is also the worst the Gallup Survey has measured in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.

The prior low approval rating for Congress was 14 percent in July 2008 when the United States was dealing with record-high gas prices and the economy was in a major recession.

The current results are based on a Dec. 10-12 Gallup poll, conducted as Congress is finishing work on an important lame-duck session. The session has been highlighted by the agreement on taxes forged last week by President Obama and Republicans in Congress.

The tax deal preserves the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates for all Americans for two years, revises the estate tax, extends unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed for a year, and reduces payroll taxes for American workers. It is expected to pass despite vocal opposition from some lawmakers on the political right and left.

Americans are generally more positive than negative toward the deal, but many Democrats in Congress oppose it, as well as some of the so-called “tea party” Republicans.

Frustration with the tax deal among Democrats in the general population could be a major reason for Americans’ historically low approval rating of Congress. That frustration could be opposition to the bill’s particulars or frustration with the Democrats in Congress opposing the president’s deal with Republicans.

Democrats’ approval of Congress is down significantly, to 16 percent now, from 29 percent in November. The November poll was conducted after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for 2011-2012 in the midterm elections, so the drop in this month’s numbers is not a reaction to the Democrats’ midterm losses.

Meanwhile, independents’ and Republicans’ ratings of Congress are down slightly from November.

For the year, Congress averaged 19 percent approval among all Americans, tied with the averages for 1979 and 2008, and one percentage point above the 18 percent average for 1992. Those years were all marked by difficult economic times for the United States.

Despite the historic lows, the prospects for a recovery in Congress’ approval ratings in the short term appear good, based on what Gallup has measured in the past when control of Congress changed hands. Gallup documented a 10-point increase in Congress’ approval rating from December 1994 to January 1995 after the Republicans officially took control of the House and Senate after the 1994 midterm elections. There was a larger 14-point increase in congressional approval ratings after the Democrats’ taking control of Congress in January 2007.

Both increases were fueled by spikes in congressional approval among supporters of the new majority party.

Bottom Line

Americans currently hold Congress in lower esteem for the job it is doing than at any point in the last 36 years. In the past month, many of the supporters it had, largely Democrats, appear to have become frustrated with its work.

That frustration seems to be taken out more on the Democratic congressional majority than on the president, whose approval rating has been relatively stable between 44 percent and 46 percent since the election among all Americans, and between 78 percent and 81 percent among Democrats.

President Obama Approval Rating Holding Steady Since Midterms

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 10-12, with a random sample of 1,019 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S., selected using random-digit-dial sampling. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Tags: Job Approval Rating of Congress the Worst in Gallup History

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Politics and Government, Public Opinion, Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.