Congressional Job Approval Skyrockets…….To 20%

It’s the era of good feelings on Capitol Hill:

Americans’ approval of the job Congress is doing rose in early January to 20%, after falling to a record-low 13% in mid-December and registering 17% in November. Support for Congress had been at or near 20% from about May of last year through October.

The poll was conducted Jan. 7-9, the same weekend that Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically wounded by a gunman who reportedly targeted her at a constituent outreach event in Tucson. However, there is no evidence in the day-by-day results that the Saturday shootings had any effect on attitudes about Congress as a whole.

Given how low the approval number was last month, it really had nowhere to go but up and, combined with the generally positive way that Americans greet changes in political control, it’s not at all surprising that this would happen.

Moreover, the actual significance of the uptick seems diminished once you realize that it is almost entirely attributable to an uptick in Republican approval of Congress:

It is not at all surprising that Republicans would approve more of Congress when it is largely controlled by Republicans.

FILED UNDER: Congress, Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.