Congressional Performance

Voters give Congress slightly better marks for its job performance following the bruising battle over impeachment but still tend to be disappointed in their own representative on Capitol Hill.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 21% of Likely U.S. Voters rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent, up from 18% in October and the highest finding in a year. Fifty-one percent (51%) still think Congress is doing a poor job, but this finding routinely ran in the 60s and 70s from 2011 through 2014. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Republicans and Democrats are in general agreement about Congress’ performance. Voters not affiliated with either major party are the most critical.

Just 31% of all voters think their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job. Forty-three percent (43%) disagree, while 26% are not sure. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say their local representative in Congress deserves to be reelected. But slightly more (40%) don’t share that assessment, with 22% who are undecided.

These numbers are consistent with findings in late 2017 and are more positive than voter attitudes for several years prior to that.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted February 16-17, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

In mid-January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enjoyed her greatest popularity ever. Her counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, earned his highest favorables in five years.

Voters who Strongly Approve of the job President Trump is doing are twice as likely as those who Strongly Disapprove to give Congress positive marks.

Men and those over 40 are more critical of Congress’ work performance than women and younger voters are.

Blacks are more impressed with the job Congress is doing than whites and other minority voters. Blacks also feel more strongly than the others that their representative is the best possible person for the job and deserves to be reelected.

Republicans and Democrats share similar views about their local congressional representative. Unaffiliated voters feel strongest that their current representative should not be reelected.

Voters trust President Trump more than the average member of Congress or the average reporter when it comes to the economy, but most continue to trust themselves the most.

Voters definitely have mixed feelings about Trump’s political savvy, but most think the president listens to voter concerns a lot more than Congress does.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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