52% of Voters Give Congress ‘Poor’ Rating

Most voters don’t believe Congress is doing a good job and, by a 2-to-1 margin, say members of Congress care more about the media than about what voters think.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 20% of Likely U.S. voters rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent, down from 24% in September. Fifty-two percent (52%) think Congress is doing a poor job, up from 44% in September. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters believe most members of Congress don’t care what their constituents think, and only 18% think most Congress members do care what their constituents think. These findings have changed little since January.

Just 22% say what matters more to the average member of Congress is what voters think, while 65% believe what the media thinks matters more to Congress members. This finding is barely changed from June 2021.

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The survey of 996 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on November 21 and 26-27, 2023 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 an era of wide partisan divisions on most issues, there is a rare consensus on whether Congress cares about the opinions of the people who elect them. Majorities of all political categories – 59% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major party – believe most members of Congress don’t care what their constituents think. There is a similar consensus on the belief that Congress members care more about what the media thinks.

Democrats (25%) are more likely than Republicans (19%) or unaffiliated voters (15%) to rate Congress as doing a good or excellent job. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats, 47% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters give Congress a poor job performance rating.

Younger voters have a much higher opinion of Congress than do their elders. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters under 40 rate Congress as doing a good or excellent job, compared to just 10% of voters ages 40-64 and eight percent (8%) of voters 65 and older.

There is not much of a “gender gap” on these questions, although men (25%) are somewhat more likely than women voters (18%) to say most members of Congress care more about what voters think than about the media.

Whites (17%) are less likely than black voters (19%) or other minorities (32%) to give Congress a good or excellent rating. Fifty-five percent (55%) of whites, 49% of black voters and 44% of other minorities rate Congress as doing a poor job.

Breaking down the electorate by income brackets, voters earning more than $100,000 a year are about twice as likely as those with annual incomes between $30,000 and $50,000 to give Congress an excellent rating.

President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters also have the highest opinion of how Congress is doing its job. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 31% give Congress a good or excellent rating. By contrast, among those who Strongly Approve of Biden’s performance, just eight percent (8%) rate Congress as doing a good or excellent job.

President Biden is too old for the job, according to a majority of voters, who don’t think he should seek reelection next year. 

A majority of voters support congressional efforts to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

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

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The survey of 996 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on November 21 and 26-27, 2023 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.