WASHINGTON – Republican incumbents in the U.S. House shouldn't be kicking back and enjoying the holiday season if they're interested in returning to D.C. in January 2017. Voters – including members of their own party – aren’t pleased with the Republicans’ control of both chambers of Congress this past year.
Just 10% of Likely U.S. Voters think Congress’ performance is better now that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are run by the GOP. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% think congressional performance is worse, while 37% rate it as about the same as it has been in the past.
It’s understandable that 70% of Democrats think Congress is doing a worse job, but 22% of Republicans and a plurality (46%) of voters not affiliated with either major party agree. Only 19% of GOP voters think the Republican-controlled Congress is doing a better job than when Democrats controlled at least one of the chambers.
Just nine percent (9%) of all voters think Congress is doing a good or excellent job, while 59% rate its performance as poor. When Republicans took full control of both houses in January, positive reviews for Congress inched up to double digits for the first time in over two years and hit a recent high of 16% in February. The percentage of voters giving the legislators poor marks dropped into the 50s earlier this year after generally running in the 60s and 70s since mid-2011.
Republicans have generally been as critical of Congress this year as Democrats and unaffiliated voters are. Many GOP voters were outraged when Congress just before Christmas approved a $1.1 trillion budget that the Obama White House says funds all their priorities.
This unhappiness with Congress is manifesting itself in support among Republican voters for outsider presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson.
More at Rasmussen Reports
