For what it’s worth, the Gallup findings can be summed up thusly:
Americans' confidence in Congress is not only at its lowest point on record, but also is the worst Gallup has ever found for any institution it has measured since 1973. This low level of confidence is in line with Americans' low job approval of Congress, which has also been stuck below 30% for years.
The divided Congress, with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans the House, is likely part of the reason for the low levels of confidence rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans express, and is tied to Americans' frustrations with Congress' inability to get much done.
Of course, I highly doubt America’s palpable disenchantment with members of Congress will change any time soon. Many of us will just keep sending the same representatives back to Washington -- as we do every election cycle -- and all the big issues of our time will continually be ignored. But perhaps these historic numbers will serve as a wake-up call for our elected officials. Then again, Congress’ approval ratings have been so low for so long one wonders if they’ll even notice.
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