Natalie Gonnella
Amid the continued debate in Washington over budget cuts and spending reform Americans' approval of Congress has once again fallen below 20 percent.
Although it is the first time favorability ratings have dipped this low during the 112th Congress (which saw a 10 point approval surge between the November election and February 2011), the current disapproval provides an interesting reflection of voters' views on the continued stagnation over fiscal reform efforts in Washington.
While the results suggest a less optimistic view of Congress among voters, in comparison to past congressional terms Gallup does note that:
Americans' opinions of Congress have not been very positive historically, with an average 34% approval rating since Gallup began tracking this measure in 1974. But the recent approval ratings for Congress have been among the lowest in Gallup's 37-year trend. Since 2008, Congress' approval rating has been below 20% in 15 of 39 months, including a record-low 13% last December.
The election of the new Congress in November brought about an opportunity for Congress' ratings to improve, as they did the last two times a change in party control occurred, in 1995 and 2007.
Between December 2010 and February 2011, Congress' approval rating increased a total of 10 points, slightly less than the increases from December 1994 to February 1995 (14 points) and December 2006 to February 2007 (16 points).
In all three instances, though, Congress' approval rating receded by the third month of the new Congress.
When broken down by political preference, Independents had the least favorable view with only 15 percent of voters approving of Congress's current job. Democrats and Republicans had a slightly more positive outlook at 20 percent approval.
The full results of Gallup's latest analysis can be viewed here.
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