Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be critical of both their own party's congressional leadership and that of the opposing party. Overall American opinion of both parties in Congress is largely negative and has become more negative over the past year.
What you need to know about Americans' views on political parties and politicians, as of the December 26-29, 2025 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- Americans are more likely to have both very favorable views and very unfavorable views of congressional Republicans than of congressional Democrats
- Democrats are less favorable towards their own party in Congress than Republicans are towards theirs: 22% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans have a very favorable opinion of their own party in Congress
- Democrats are also more critical than Republicans of the opposing party in Congress: 81% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans have a very unfavorable opinion of members of the opposing party in Congress
- Independents are more likely to have very unfavorable views of Republicans in Congress than of Democrats in Congress (45% vs. 32%)
- Views on both parties in Congress have fallen significantly over the past year. Net favorability — meaning the share of people with a favorable view minus the share with an unfavorable view — is lower for Democrats in Congress than for Republicans in Congress (-30 vs. -25)
- Net favorability of congressional Republicans is the lowest it has been since August 2024. Net favorability of congressional Democrats is about as low as in June, when it hit its lowest point since we began tracking in May 2021
- More Americans disapprove than approve of how congressional leaders are handling their jobs. Net approval is similar for Mike Johnson (-17), John Thune (-20), and Hakeem Jeffries (-21) and lower for Chuck Schumer (-38)
- Republicans have higher net approval than Democrats of their party's congressional leaders and of the opposing party's leaders
- The survey also asked about views on a variety of other politicians — most of whom Americans view more negatively than positively
- Bernie Sanders is the only figure with positive net favorability, though only barely (+1)
- Democrats Gavin Newsom (-11) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (-11) are rated only slightly higher than Republicans JD Vance (-13), Marco Rubio (-15), and Donald Trump (-16)
- Hillary Clinton (-28) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (-31) are rated more negatively
- Mitch McConnell is the most disliked figure among those asked about, with a net favorability of -50
- Democrats and Republicans are less polarized about Greene and McConnell than they are about other figures included in the survey
Image: Getty (Kayla Bartkowski / Staff)
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