Polls & Research

Congress Cannot Reach 30% Approval in U.S.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many American adults remain dissatisfied with their elected federal lawmakers, according to a review of three recent public opinion polls. In a survey by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News, 28 per cent of respondents approve of the way the U.S. Congress is doing its job.

The approval rating for Congress stands at 25 per cent in a study by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by the Associated Press, and 19 per cent in a poll by Hart/McInturff released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News.

American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006. In January, the Democratic Party took control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. A victory for the Democratic candidates for the Senate in Montana and Virginia also gave the party a majority in the upper house. Democratic California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.

In April, Democratic Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich suggested the impeachment of U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney, declaring, "Now is the time for Congress to examine the actions that led us into (the Iraq war) just as we must work to bring the troops home." Kucinich said it is more "practical" to remove Cheney from office, as he would take over as head of the state if the president were impeached.

On Nov. 9, Democratic Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the deputy Democratic whip, expressed disagreement with Kucinich, saying, "(Voters want Congress) to focus on withdrawing our troops from Iraq, on expanding health care access. (...) They did not ask us to spend any time on the impeachment of the vice-president."

Polling Data

a) Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Congress is doing its job?

	Nov. 2007	Sept. 2007	Jul. 2007
Approve	28%	29%	37%
Disapprove	65%	65%	60%

Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,131 American adults, conducted from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

b) Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way Congress is handling its job?

	Nov. 2007	Oct. 2007	Sept. 2007
Approve	25%	22%	26%
Disapprove	70%	73%	71%
Mixed feelings	4%	4%	3%

Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,005 American adults, conducted from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

c) In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Congress is doing?

	Nov. 2007	Sept. 2007	Jul. 2007
Approve	19%	23%	24%
Disapprove	68%	65%	63%

Source: Hart/McInturff / The Wall Street Journal / NBC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,509 American adults, conducted from Nov. 1 to Nov. 5, 2007. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.