One hundred days into Donald Trump’s return to the White House, public trust in Congress remains in the gutter. Just 28% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to Gallup. While it doesn’t match the all-time low of an 11% approval rating set in 2015, most Americans continues to lack confidence in a legislative branch that is supposed to counterbalance executive power and holds ultimate responsibility for how our government raises and spends taxpayer money.
Americans aren’t big fans of Congressional leadership either.
The approval ratings of congressional leaders aggregated by Real Clear Polling help show how underwater Congress is.
It is not surprising so many Americans are disappointed with the work of the legislative branch. The 118th Congress (which lasted from 2023 to 2025) was one of the least productive in history as measured by the number of bills passed. So far only five bills have cleared both chambers for President Trump’s signature this Congress, the lowest number in a president’s first 100 days since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
There is a paradox, though, that continues to distort how Congress is perceived. Most Americans disapprove of Congress as a whole, yet continue to support their own members. A 2023 Pew Research poll, for instance, found that 41% approved of their congressional representative, but only 26% viewed Congress favorably overall. This pattern – first laid out in 1978 by American political scientist Richard Fenno – makes structural change harder. It explains how approval can crater while reelection rates remain sky-high. It also helps incumbents avoid real accountability, even when voters express deep frustration with the institution they help lead.
Still, pressure is building as more Americans are tired of the status quo. More than 80% of Americans support term limits for members of Congress, and similar numbers support banning the controversial practice of members of Congress owning and trading stocks.
If Congress wants to remain a coequal branch of government and not just a stage for partisan grandstanding, it will need to show it can act with purpose – and remember who it is supposed to serve.
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