Story Highlights
- Congressional approval down from 31% in May and 25% in June
- Congress approval down at least 10 points among all partisans since May
- 87-percentage-point partisan gap in presidential approval
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After hitting 20-year highs in April and May, Americans' approval of Congress continues its downward slide to 18%. The last time congressional approval was below 20% was in September 2019.
Line graph. Job approval rating of Congress since January 2019. Approval is currently 18% down from 25% in June and 31% in May
The latest reading is from a Gallup poll conducted July 1-23 as coronavirus cases in the U.S. continued to spike, and Congress worked to negotiate another economic relief package. Congress' heightened approval ratings in the spring came on the heels of the first relief package, which was well-received by majorities of Americans across party lines.
While partisans' approval ratings of the legislative branch have declined by double digits since May, Democrats' approval has fallen the most -- from 39% to 20%. At the same time, Republicans' approval has dropped from 24% to 14% and independents' from 32% to 21%.
Line graph. Job approval rating of Congress since January 2019 among partisans. Approval is currently 21% among independents, 20% among Democrats and 14% among Republicans
Presidential Approval Rating Stable
As Americans' approval of Congress drops, President Donald Trump's approval rating has been steady near 40% in June and July. Still, the current 41% remains well below the 49% earlier this year when the economy was in good shape, and Trump was enjoying a post-impeachment bounce.
Line graph. Job approval ratings of President Donald Trump since January 2019
The 87-percentage-point gap in Trump's approval rating between Republicans (91%) and Democrats (4%) remains among the highest measured by Gallup, exceeded only by the 89-point gap in June.
Implications
As the nation continues to simultaneously battle the coronavirus pandemic and the poor economic conditions that resulted from it, Americans appear to be of the "what have you done for me lately?" mindset in assessing Congress.
With the general election just over three months away, the president's approval rating is in dangerous territory from a historical perspective, and he is running out of time to bounce back to his pre-pandemic highs.
View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).
Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
