Congress' New Approval Rating Low: 9%

Congress’ approval ratings have sunk to their lowest since CBS and the New York Times started keeping track in 1977: Just 9% of Americans now approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 11% last month. Only a tenth of Americans trust the government to make generally sound decisions, compared to 23% last year. And the anger is spread across party lines.

Some 84% overall disapprove of the job Congress is doing; that breaks down into 83% of Republicans, 83% of Democrats, and 85% of independents. As for President Obama, his approval rating remains less than 50%, though at 46% it has climbed two percentage points from September. The same figure, 46%, disapprove of Obama’s work as president. Perhaps his Leno appearance will change some minds. (More Congress stories.)