Few Democrats Say Congress Has Accomplished More Than Usual

Just one-in-five of Americans (20%) say that the current Congress has accomplished more than its recent predecessors. (Note, however, that the public is never overly impressed with Congress’s workload — in biannual surveys going back to 1994, no more than a quarter of the public has ever said the current Congress accomplished more than recent Congresses.) In the most recent survey, a majority of the public believes that this Congress has accomplished less (36%) or about the same (37%) as recent Congresses. Despite two years of Democratic control, even most Democrats do not have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment with regard to the current Congress. Just a third of Democrats (33%) say this Congress has accomplished more than most, while 37% say it has accomplished the same amount and 24% say it has done less than most. Republicans are the most likely to say that this Congress has accomplished less than most; 54% say this, while only 9% say it has accomplished more than most. Independents’ views of congressional accomplishment mirror those of the public overall. Read More