Congressional Approval Ratings

Before I put out some random information about Congressional Approval Ratings, I think I should give this preface first. Congressional Approval Ratings are always lower than Presidential Approval Ratings. There are multiple reasons:

First, Congress cannot take decisive action, they are not the executive branch. People like decisive action taken quickly. It makes them feel like something is getting done. Because of that, Congress is always lower than the President.

Second, Congress is a body that debates, or fights. Americans, even though they are arguably polarized, like bipartisanship. Since often all we hear of Congress is how much of our money they are spending and they are always fighting, they have lower approval ratings.

Third, We do not know who "congress" is. Are we talking about our Congressperson, democrats in Congress, republicans in Congress, Congressional Leadership, or the most recent Congressional Crazy?

So here is what we have. When asked about Congressional approval rating:

Congressional Job Approval

Polling Data

Poll	Date	Approve	Disapprove	Spread
RCP Average	04/01 - 04/26	31.8	60.5	-28.7
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl	04/23 - 04/26	28	58	-30
Associated Press-GfK	04/16 - 04/20	38	57	-19
CNN	04/03 - 04/05	35	63	-28
CBS News/NY Times	04/01 - 04/05	26	64	-38

Doesn't look good. The Democrats Control Congress. But wait... If we break it down by party:

The most Recent Polls, which you can find at PollingReport.com Show

Democrats:
Approve 44%
Disapprove 49%

Republicans:
Approve: 14%
Disapprove: 71%

While 44% is not really good for the democrats, it beats the hell out of 14% for the republicans. More importantly, look at the disapproval rating. That is astounding. While less than half of Americans disapprove of Congressional Democrats, nearly three quarters disapprove of Republicans.