Last week, Rasmussen published the results of a nationwide telephone survey that said six percent of Americans approve — to some degree — of Congress’ job performance. As bad as these polling results are, Rasmussen is not alone in its findings.
An overwhelming majority of voters believe Congress is failing America and have no confidence members of Congress can do the job they were elected to do. In fact, according to Gallup, confidence in Congress has dropped to an astonishing 10 percent.
The last two congressional sessions have been plagued by hyper-partisanship and have been the most polarizing in modern U.S. history. Dissatisfaction with Congress is not restricted to one party or voting bloc. Independents and Republicans have the lowest opinion of Congress at 10 percent, Democrats are only two percentage points more likely to have confidence in the Legislative Branch.
According to Gallup, not only are these numbers the lowest ever recorded for Congress since Gallup began surveying them, they are the lowest found of any societal group since 1973. It is also in line with Gallup’s own congressional job assessment.
Voters are more likely to agree that partisan gridlock is the problem. With the latest polling data in mind, perhaps it is time members of Congress stop turning to special interests and partisan agendas, and start paying attention.