As of April 22, 2026, American disapproval of Congress has climbed to 86%, matching the record high in more than half a century of Gallup polling, with just 10% of adults approving of the job lawmakers are doing as a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security drags into its 10th week.
The 10% approval figure, released Wednesday, sits one point above the all-time low of 9% recorded in 2013.
Gallup has tracked congressional approval since 1974, and ratings have been mostly underwater across that span, averaging 28% approval and 65% disapproval.
The current survey was conducted by telephone from April 1 to April 15 with a random sample of 1,001 adults, with a margin of sampling error of ±4 percentage points.
The poll captures a steep collapse in confidence in the Republican-led 119th Congress.
Approval began the year at 17% in January 2025, climbed to 29% after President Donald Trump's inauguration, and peaked at 31% last March.
Ratings fell sharply during and after the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, which began Oct. 1 and ended in mid-November, and have since settled in the low- to mid-teens. Disapproval has climbed from a low of 63% in spring 2025 to 86%.
Republican voters account for much of the recent decline.
Gallup found GOP approval has fallen sharply from 63% in March 2025, while Democratic Party approval sits at 3%, near the group's record low, and independents register 11% approval.
Gallup attributed Republican frustration, in part, to stalled legislation, including a bill passed by the House in 2025 that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Beyond the DHS funding impasse, which began Feb. 14 and has left tens of thousands of department employees without regular pay, Gallup pointed to tensions over war powers tied to the U.S. conflict with Iran, the effects of high gas prices, and ethics scandals involving two House members whose resignations took effect during the polling window.
Senate Republicans this week unveiled a plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of Trump's term without Democrat votes, using a budget maneuver to break the standoff.
House Republicans have pushed a short-term measure to keep the wider department open, but the chambers remain split, and no funding bill covering the full department has reached Trump's desk.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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