Americans despise Congress even when it’s on vacation.
According to a recent Gallup poll, just 14 percent of Americans view Congress favorably — down one percentage point from last month — and 81 percent disapprove.
Americans’ negative take on Congress has been relatively consistent this year, averaging 15 percent disapproval, which Gallup notes is on pace to tie Congress’ worst approval year in 2012. The polling outfit began measuring Congress approval rating in 1974.
Congress has averaged below 20 percent approval for three years running, 2013 could well be the fourth year in that tradition, and the fifth under 20 percent in the past six years, the exception being 2009.
Gallup attributes the negativity to the divided Congress, noting that historically approval is better when one party controls both chambers due to party supporters helping to bump up the approval numbers.
The polling firm does note however that even party loyalty is down among both Democrats and Republicans — with both party supporters polling lower Congressional approval than when the opposite party controlled both houses.
Gallup’s poll of 2,059 adults in the U.S. was conducted Aug. 7-11 and has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.