Gallup: Congress Job Approval at 17 Percent, Trump Up One to 43 Percent

A Gallup poll taken in early May reveals that President Donald Trump’s job approval rating is the highest it has been since May 2017 – 43 percent. Congress, however, has the lowest rating this year at 17 percent, according to a separate recent Gallup poll.

Gallup reported on congressional job approval rating:

The latest job approval rating comes from a Gallup poll conducted May 1-10 as Congress weighs whether to pass $15 billion in “rescissions” of non-obligated funds as President Donald Trump has requested. The polling period also coincided with several key congressional primary elections as many members prepare to run for re-election this fall.

The highest approval rating Congress could get came between February and July 2017 when it garnered 28 percent. That is the highest rating since 2009 and was short-lived, according to Gallup, with the average rating for Congress at 18 percent.

Meanwhile, a Gallup poll seeking a job approval rating for Trump taken May 7-13 reveals 43 percent of respondents approved.

“Much of the recent news coverage about the president has focused on independent counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion and the payments made by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels,” Gallup reported.

“But there have been other stories that reflect more positively on Trump, including North Korea’s willingness to accept restrictions on its nuclear program, and the U.S. unemployment rate dropping to its lowest level in 18 years,” Gallup reported.

Gallup also reported that Trump’s rating based on party affiliation has increased recently as well:

Over the past two weeks, an average of 89% of Republicans, 36% of independents and 11% of Democrats have said they approve of the job Trump is doing as president. All are up between two and five percentage points compared with April 9-22 polling, though only the five-point change among Republicans is large enough to be statistically meaningful.

Gallup noted that Trump’s approval rating is “historically low,” but “at 89% approval among his fellow Republicans, Trump has little room to improve his standing among that group.”

Results for the congressional approval rating poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 1-10, 2018, with a random sample of 1,015 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, with the margin of error at plus or minus four percent.

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