BURSTA record-high share of American voters are content with the work of Republican lawmakers, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll.
In the survey, conducted in late June, 36 percent of registered voters approve of the job Republicans in Congress are doing — the highest level recorded since pollsters began asking the question in 2011.
The latest approval rating also marks a 10-point jump from the last time the question was asked, in February 2024, when 26 percent of registered voters approved of the job Republicans in Congress were doing.
Before that, the survey was conducted in March 2021, when 28 percent approved; and in January 2019, when 29 percent approved.
The question was asked numerous times each year from 2011 to 2018. The previous high was recorded in March 2015, when 33 percent of registered voters approved of the job Republicans in Congress were doing. The record low came just a few months later, in August 2015, when 19 percent approved of the job they were doing.
The jump in GOP approval comes as the party has taken back control of both chambers of Congress.
Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, have seen a dramatic drop in their approval rating in the latest poll.
Only 27 percent of registered voters approve of the job congressional Democrats are doing — down 12 points since February 2024, when 39 percent approved of Democrats' work. In the March 2021 poll, Democrats saw their record-high approval of 41 percent.
This latest approval rating is tied for the lowest that congressional Democrats’ have recorded since the survey began in 2011. It is also only the third time in the survey’s history that congressional Republicans led their Democratic counterparts in approval ratings: Republicans led by 3 points in March 2015 and by 1 point in December 2014.
Congressional Democrats’ showing in the latest poll seems to be fueled by members of their own party — only 44 percent of Democratic respondents approve of their party’s work in Congress, while 43 percent disapprove.
Meanwhile, among Republican respondents, 73 percent approve of the GOP's work in Congress, while 15 percent disapprove.
Among independents, 25 percent gave a nod of approval to the job Republicans in Congress are doing, while 20 percent approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing.
The survey was conducted on June 23-25 and included 1,381 adults, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. The survey included 1,206 registered voters, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.