Congress Job Approval at 35%, Lowest in Eight Years

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- These are not good days for Congress. The latest Gallup survey shows that only 35% of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, and almost 4 in 10 say most Republicans and, separately, most Democrats in Congress are unethical. When asked about members of Congress going on a trip funded by a lobbyist, an action that has caused House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to come under severe criticism and possible investigation by the House ethics committee, more than 8 in 10 say it is at least a "moderately serious" ethical problem. Overall, the public's low esteem of congressional members holds about equally for both Republicans and Democrats.

The latest survey on Congress' approval rating was conducted May 2-5, 2005 showing that 35% of Americans approve and 57% disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. That is the lowest approval rating and highest disapproval rating for Congress since July 1997.

Ratings of Congress are highly related to people's party affiliation. But even Republicans -- whose party controls both the House and the Senate -- approve of Congress by only a slim 49% to 45% margin. Independents and Democrats strongly disapprove -- by margins of 62% to 28%, and 66% to 26%, respectively.

It is impossible to determine the exact causes for this continuing slide in the public's approval rating of Congress, but the recent wrangling over the filibuster rule, intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, and charges of unethical conduct lodged against DeLay almost certainly have all contributed.

In a survey conducted at the end of April, 56% of Americans said that most Republicans in Congress are ethical, and 38% said they are unethical. Regarding Democrats, the pattern was almost identical -- 55% said most Democrats in Congress are ethical and 39% said most are unethical.

Generally speaking, do you think -- [ROTATED: Most Republicans in Congress/Most Democrats in Congress] -- are ethical or unethical?

Most Republicans think that Republicans in Congress are ethical, but independents are about evenly divided on the issue and Democrats are inclined to think of congressional Republicans as unethical.

On the other hand, most Democrats think congressional Democrats are ethical, and a slight majority of Republicans agree. Independents are about evenly divided.

Recently, DeLay has come under fire for a variety of actions his critics call unethical, including taking trips funded by a lobbyist and the presence of his wife and daughter on the payrolls of various lobbying organizations. The charges may well have hurt DeLay's standing among the American public (as well as the overall image of Congress), as 38% of Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of him, while 27% say favorable. In July 2003, more people were favorable (33%) than unfavorable (19%).

Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of these people -- or if you have never heard of them. First, ... How about ... [ITEMS A-C ROTATED, ITEM D READ LAST]

A. House Republican Leader, Tom DeLay

In the wake of charges against DeLay, his unfavorable rating has climbed 14 points in the past three months, although his favorable rating has dropped only two points in the same period of time.

Most Americans believe that lobbyist-funded trips, like the kind DeLay is accused of taking, constitute either a "very serious" (46%) or "moderately serious" (36%) ethical matter.

If the member of Congress who represents your district in the U.S. House of Representatives went on a trip that was paid for by a lobbyist, would you consider that to be -- a very serious ethical matter, moderately serious, not too serious, or not a serious ethical matter at all?

Opinion on this issue is only slightly related to party affiliation, with 78% of Republicans, 80% of independents, and 90% of Democrats saying it is at least a moderately serious matter.

Survey Methods

Results in the two surveys mentioned in this release are based on telephone interviews, each with about 1,000 national adults, aged 18 and older, one conducted April 29-May 1, 2005 and the other May 2-4, 2005. For results based on the samples of national adults in each survey, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.