Fox News Poll: Approval of Congress lowest in five years

As the number of Congressional Democrats calling for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race grows, the latest Fox News national survey finds Congress’ approval rating at its lowest in five years.

The poll, released Monday, was conducted after the first presidential debate and before Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Just 18% of voters approve of the job Congress is doing, down one point from 19% in February 2024, and December and September 2023. Current congressional approval is down 16 points from 34% approval in June 2021, the highest during Biden’s presidency. 

At that time, 47% of Democrats, 34% of independents, and 21% of Republicans approved of Congress. The new survey finds those numbers stand at 22%, 10%, and 16%, respectively.

A June Fox News survey found 36% of voters had a great deal or some confidence in Congress, placing it last among jury trials (70%), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (59%), the Department of Justice (54%), and the Supreme Court (50%).

Overall attitudes toward Congress have been in the spotlight as U.S. representatives and senators consider how to move forward following Biden’s dreadful debate performance on June 27.  As of July 15, 18 Congressional Democrats and one Democratic senator have called upon Biden to step down as the party’s nominee. 

FOX NEWS POLL: POST-DEBATE, TRUMP IS BACK ON TOP IN HORSERACE

Nearly half of voters, 47%, have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, up 3 points since the question was last asked shortly before the 2022 Midterm Elections (September 2022).  That’s 7 points shy of the record high, 54%, in February 2008.  The last time a majority viewed the Democratic Party favorably was August 2019 (51% favorable).

Slightly fewer, 43%, have a positive view of the Republican Party, up one point from September 2022 (42% favorable).

The Republican Party has never reached over 50% in favorable views, as their highest rating was 49% in January 2004 (the first time the question was asked on a Fox News survey).   

The Democratic Party is helped by party loyalty as 87% of Democrats have a favorable view of their party while 83% of Republicans have a positive view of the Republican Party.  More independents view the Democratic Party (39%) favorably than the GOP (27%).

Still, views of both parties are underwater: the Democratic Party by 6 points (47% favorable, 53% unfavorable) and the Republican Party by 14 (43-57%).

"We’ve seen in several statewide polls that Democratic candidates are running stronger down ballot than Biden is against Trump," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News surveys with Democrat Chris Anderson. "These data show that while the Democratic Party is viewed negatively, voters are even less favorably inclined toward the Republican Party."

The economy is a top concern for voters as 88% are extremely or very concerned about it – it is only edged out for the number one spot by threats to personal rights and freedoms at 89%.

Health care (85% extremely/very concerned) comes next, followed closely by threats to free and fair elections (83%).

All other issues tested come in under 80%:  tax rates (79%), higher crime rates (79%), illegal immigration (73%), the Supreme Court (71%), abortion policy (70%), Israel-Hamas war (69%), Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (69%), and climate change (62%).

FOX NEWS POLL: THREE-POINT SHIFT IN BIDEN-TRUMP MATCHUP SINCE MAY

There are major differences between partisans on issue priorities.

Top concerns among Republicans are the economy (96%), illegal immigration (92%), higher crimes rates (91%), taxes (88%), and threats to rights (88%).  For Democrats it is threats to personal rights (90%), abortion (89%), climate change (89%), health care (89%), and the Supreme Court (86%).  

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Like Democrats, independents’ top concern is threats to personal rights (87%) followed by health care (86%), while the rest of their top concerns more closely align with Republicans -- the economy (85%), taxes (85%), and higher crime rates (83%). 

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Conducted July 7-10, 2024 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,210 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (132) and cellphones (787) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (291). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling errors associated with subgroup results is higher. In addition to sampling errors, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.