We can thank Senate Majority “Leader” John Thune for this one: Barely one-in-five voters think Congress is doing a good job, and still fewer say members listen to the people they’re elected to represent.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 21% of Likely U.S. Voters rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent – almost unchanged from 20% last October in the midst of a government shutdown.
However, there is some relatively good news, less than half (46%) now think Congress is doing a poor job, down from 58% last October.
Only 18% believe the average representative in Congress listens most to the voters he or she represents. Most (69%) think they listen to party leaders in Congress, consistent with regular findings since September 2010. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.
Among those who give Congress a poor rating, just six percent (6%) say the average member listens most to the voters he or she represents.
Congress gets a good or excellent rating from 17% of Democrats, 34% of Republicans and 13% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Democrats, 27% of Republicans and 58% of unaffiliated voters rate Congress as doing a poor job.
Majorities of every political category – 68% of Democrats, 63% of Republicans and 75% of unaffiliated voters believe the average representative in Congress listens more to party leaders than to the voters they’re supposed to represent.
Slightly more men (25%) than women voters (19%) give Congress a good or excellent rating.
Congress is rated as doing a poor job by 50% of whites, 45% of black voters, 32% of Hispanics and 32% of other minorities. Hispanics are most likely to say that the average member of Congress listens most to the voters he or she represents.
A majority of voters 50 and older give Congress a poor job performance rating. Younger voters are more likely to think the average representative in Congress listens to voters.
Breaking down the electorate by income categories, Congress gets the worst ratings from voters in the top bracket, earning more than $200,000 a year.
Sixty percent (60%) of those who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election rate Congress as doing a poor job, compared to 33% of Donald Trump voters who say the same.
The only good news for the GOP is that Democrats fare no better than they do.
The survey of 1,090 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 18-20, 2026 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. To see survey question wording, click here.
