Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Congressional Approval Tracker (08/14/2019)

Washington, D.C., August 14, 2019 -  This week's Reuters/Ipsos Core Political found that 3 in 10 of both Americans (30%) and registered voters (31%) agree that the country is headed in the right direction. Democratic registered voters are not as optimistic about the path the country is on – just 12 percent believe America is on the right path. Independent registered voters are more optimistic (27%) than Democratic registered voters, but less so than Republican registered voters (59%).  

President Trump’s approval remains consistent with last week – 42 percent of Americans and 43 percent of registered voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president. Partisanship continues to be a driver of President Trump’s approval ratings: while the vast majority of Republican registered voters (83%) approve, just 15 percent of Democratic registered voters say the same. Among Independent registered voters, 37 percent approve of President Trump.

Immigration (19%), healthcare (18%), and terrorism/terrorist attacks (12%) are the top concerns facing the country for all Americans. Following the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, terrorism/terrorist attacks jumped 5 percentage points since last week, coming in as the 3^rd biggest concern and exceeding concerns about the economy (9%). Sentiments are similar among registered voters: a fifth (21%) perceive immigration as the biggest problem, followed by healthcare (19%) and terrorism/terrorist attacks (11%). Republican registered voters are most likely to say immigration (34%) is the biggest problem facing the country, followed by terrorism/terrorist attacks (14%) and healthcare (12%). Democratic registered voters, on the other hand, view healthcare (25%) as the biggest issue, followed by the environment (11%).

Americans’ perceptions of Congress continue to be very weak, with just over a quarter of Americans approving of the legislature’s performance (27%). Republican registered voters are slightly more likely to approve of the body as a whole (32%), while 29 percent of Democratic registered voters approve of Congress. Independent registered voters are least likely to approve (8%). Americans are more generous in their evaluation of their individual representative – with 4 in 10 who approve (43%). A majority of Republican registered voters approve of their representative (52%), while 46 percent of Democratic registered voters and 30 percent of Independent registered voters say the same.

About this Study

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters between August 12-14, 2019. For the survey, a sample of 1,116 Americans, including 980 registered voters, 473 Democrat registered voters, 392 Republican registered voters, and 82 Independent registered voters ages 18+ were interviewed online. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for all adults, 3.6 percentage points for registered voters, 5.1 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, 5.6 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and 12.3 percentage points for Independent registered voters. For more information about credibility intervals, please see the appendix.

The data were weighted to the U.S. current population data by gender, age, education, and ethnicity. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Figures marked by an asterisk (*) indicate a percentage value of greater than zero but less than one half of one per cent. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. To see more information on this and other Reuters/Ipsos polls, please visit http://polling.reuters.com/.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Clifford Young
President, U.S.
Ipsos Public Affairs
202.420.2016
[email protected]

Chris Jackson
Vice President, U.S.
Ipsos Public Affairs
202.420.2011
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is a global independent market research company. Our team of 18,000 across 90 countries serves 5,000 clients and undertakes 70,000 different projects each year. Our polling practice is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

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