According to a new Gallup poll, only 11 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. This figure sits just barely about the all-time low approval mark of 9 percent Congress registered in November 2013.
However, despite barely missing their lowest recorded mark on approval, the number of people who disapprove of the job Congress is doing has reached a 41-year high.
The Washington Times reports:
Alas, a new Gallup poll reveals that 86 percent of Americans disapprove of the U.S. Congress, tying a 41-year record for such negative sentiments. The survey was conducted after Rep. Paul Ryan took over as new House speaker, incidentally. A paltry 11 percent of the respondents actually approve of the lawmakers; that includes 8 percent of Republicans, 13 percent of independents and 11 percent of Democrats.
"Republicans’ more negative evaluation of Congress is a recent development. In the first poll Gallup conducted entirely after the GOP assumed control of the Senate earlier this year, Republicans (27 percent) were significantly more likely than Democrats (17 percent) and independents (18 percent) to approve of Congress, consistent with the historical pattern," reports Gallup analyst Jeffrey Jones.
Gallup says of their polling:
Congress historically has not received high approval ratings, registering majority approval a small number of times during the economic boom of the late 1990s/early 2000s and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That includes a record-high 84% approval in October 2001. But ratings of Congress in recent years have been among the worst Gallup has recorded, rarely reaching 20% since 2011.
Gallup's latest congressional approval rating was obtained shortly after Congress passed bipartisan legislation to avert another government shutdown, and after Republican Rep. Paul Ryan took over as the new speaker of the House. That change in leadership did not have any immediate positive effect on how Americans view Congress.