52% of Voters Give Congress ‘Poor’ Rating

Less than nine months before the midterm elections, a majority of voters still think Congress is doing a lousy job.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that only 18% of Likely U.S. voters rate Congress excellent or good at doing its job, while 52% give Congress a poor rating. Bad as it is, that’s actually a slight improvement since last July, when 17% gave Congress an excellent or good rating, and 54% said Congress was doing a poor job. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Thirty percent (30%) of voters believe it is likely that Congress will seriously address the most important problems facing our nation, including just eight percent (8%) who think it’s Very Likely. A majority (66%) don’t think it’s likely Congress will seriously address important problems, including 34% who believe it’s Not At All Likely.

What is the most important problem Congress should address? Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters say illegal immigration, followed closely by inflation (23%). Eighteen percent (18%) believe violent crime is the most important issue for Congress to deal with and 15% think COVID-19 is the top issue. Only nine percent (9%) say climate change is the most important problem for Congress to deal with, which is fewer than the 10% who say “some other issue” is the top priority for Congress.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 7-8, 2022 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.

Significantly more Democrats (30%) rate Congress excellent or good, compared to Republicans (13%) or voters not affiliated with either major party (9%). Sixty-three percent (63%) of Republicans, 34% of Democrats and 60% of unaffiliated voters rate Congress poor in doing its job.

Likewise, more Democrats (46%) than Republicans (22%) or unaffiliated voters (19%) think it is at least somewhat likely that Congress will seriously address the most important problems facing our nation. Forty-five percent (45%) of Republicans, 19% of Democrats and 38% of unaffiliated voters believe it is Not At All Likely that Congress will address the most important issues.

Among Democratic voters, 26% say COVID-19 is the most important issue for Congress to deal with, followed by violent crime and climate change (both 16%) and inflation (15%). For GOP voters, the most important issues for Congress to deal with are illegal immigration (32%) and inflation (30%), with violent crime (15%) and COVID-19 (12%) trailing far behind. Among unaffiliated voters, 26% believe illegal immigration is the most important issue for Congress to deal with, while 24% say inflation is the top issue, 16% say violent crime and 14% say COVID-19.

More whites (57%) than black voters (29%) or other minorities (51%) rate Congress as doing a poor job.

Significantly more black voters (37%) than whites (14%) or other minorities (18%) say COVID-19 is the top issue for Congress to deal with. Far fewer black voters (8%) than whites (26%) or other minorities (23%) rate inflation as the most important issue for Congress to deal with.

Voters 65 and older give the lowest ratings to the job Congress is doing, and are most likely to say illegal immigration is the most important issue for Congress to deal with. Voters under 40 are significantly more likely than their elders to rate COVID-19 as the top issue for Congress to deal with.

Voters with annual incomes of $200,000 or more are least likely to rank inflation as the most important issue for Congress to deal with, and the most likely to say climate change is the top issue.

President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters have a higher opinion of Congress than do other voters, and also differ significantly in terms of which issues are most important. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 43% think Congress is doing an excellent or good job, compared to merely three percent (3%) among those who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s performance, 31% rate COVID-19 as the most important issue for Congress to deal with and only three percent (3%) think illegal immigration is the top issue. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, 41% rate illegal immigration as the top issue facing Congress, and just seven percent (7%) think COVID-19 is most important.

Most voters think President Joe Biden is one of the worst ever to hold the office, and rank him below his two immediate predecessors in the White House.

A majority of voters think congressional Democrats are too liberal, and agree with the Senate GOP leader that voters don’t want to “fundamentally transform America.”

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

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