Democrats hold an increasingly negative view of Democratic members of Congress. Combined with Republicans' consistently unfavorable views of congressional Democrats, this makes Democrats in Congress less well-liked than congressional Republicans or than Donald Trump.
What you need to know about Americans' views on Congress, as of the January 23 - 26, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- 29% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of Democrats in Congress, and 62% have an unfavorable view, for a net favorability of -33
- That compares to Republicans in Congress, who are viewed favorably by 34% of Americans and unfavorably by 57% — a net favorability of -24
- Last week's Economist / YouGov Poll found that 41% of Americans had a favorable view of Trump and 56% an unfavorable view, for a net favorability of -15
- Views on congressional Democrats have worsened sharply since Trump won the 2024 election. In November 2024, 39% of Americans viewed congressional Democrats favorably and 48% viewed them unfavorably, for a net favorability of -10
- This fall in favorability is due largely to worsening views among Democrats
- Republicans have had overwhelmingly unfavorable views of congressional Democrats for years
- In November 2024, 85% of Democrats had a favorable view of congressional Democrats and 10% an unfavorable view, for a net favorability of +75; today that's fallen to 63% favorable and 33% unfavorable — a net of +30
- Among Independents, 28% had a favorable view of congressional Democrats in November 2024 and 46% were unfavorable, for a net favorability of -18. Now, 20% are favorable and 62% unfavorable, amounting to a net of -42
- Democrats' views of congressional Democrats have taken a particular plunge over the past month
- The December 26 - 29, 2025 Economist / YouGov Poll found that 74% of Democrats had a favorable view of congressional Democrats, while 23% had an unfavorable view
- Democrats' net favorability of congressional Democrats has fallen to +30 from +51 over the past month
- While Democrat Joe Biden was president, Democrats consistently rated their members of Congress more highly than Republicans did theirs
- That dynamic has switched now that Trump is president, with Republicans rating their members of Congress more highly than Democrats do theirs
- The +30 net favorability Democrats have for congressional Democrats is comparable to the most negatively that Republicans felt about their members of Congress during Biden's term, in late 2023 and early 2024
- But Democrats are currently less positive about congressional Democrats than Republicans were about congressional Republicans for most of Biden's term
- More Americans disapprove than approve of how congressional leaders are handling their jobs. Net approval is similar for Mike Johnson (-21), John Thune (-21), and Hakeem Jeffries (-26), and lower for Chuck Schumer (-41)
- Republicans have higher net approval than Democrats of their party's congressional leaders and of the opposing party's leaders
- Among Democrats, net approval of Jeffries has fallen 16 points in the past month, and net approval of Schumer has fallen 5 points
- While few Americans have rosy views of Congress, most (59%) are in favor of Congress providing oversight of the executive branch; only 21% say Congress should not provide oversight
- 71% of Americans say that the president should get approval from Congress before starting an offensive war; 16% say the president should not
- 68% believe the president should not be able to spend funds without congressional approval; 18% say the president should be able to
- Very few Americans (11%) say that Congress is doing an excellent or good job overseeing the executive branch; 13% say it is doing a fair job and 41% say it is doing a poor job
- Many see Congress as weak relative to the president: 62% say the executive branch is the most powerful of the three branches. Only 13% say the legislative branch is and 24% say the judicial branch is
Image: Getty (Chip Somodevilla / Staff)
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