Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Congressional Approval Tracker (09/04/2019)
Washington, D.C., September 4, 2019 - Following the Labor Day Holiday, Reuters/Ipsos examined Americans' perceptions of Congress and their representatives in this week's Core Political survey. Just 1 in 5 Americans (22%) approve of the way Congress as a whole is operating. Democratic registered voters and Republican registered voters are equally likely to say they approve of Congress (24% for both). When asked about how they feel about their individual representative's performance, Americans are more likely to say they approve of their representative (39%) than the legislature as a whole (22% as previously mentioned). Democratic registered voters (45%) and Republican registered voters (47%) are more satisfied with their representatives than the general population.
One third of Americans (31%) report they believe the country is headed in the right direction, statistically unchanged from last week. Registered voters feel similarly, with 34 percent reporting they believe America is on the right path. Democratic registered voters are the least satisfied with the direction of the country - just 12 percent report they believe the country is headed in the right direction. Republican registered voters are the most likely to say they are happy with the direction of the country (63%).
President Trump’s approval remains consistent – 40 percent of Americans and 43 percent of registered voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president. President Trump's approval ratings continue to be driven by partisanship: a strong majority of Republican registered voters (81%) approve, while just 11 percent of Democratic registered voters say the same, and 87 percent disapprove.
Americans consistently report immigration (20%), healthcare (17%), and the economy (12%) as the most important problems facing the country right now. Registered voters report feeling similar to the general population. Partisanship also drives perceptions of saliency of issues - Republican registered voters are most likely to say immigration (37%) is the biggest problem facing the country, followed by the economy (11%), healthcare (10%), and morality (10%). Democratic registered voters, on the other hand, view healthcare (22%) as the biggest issue, followed by the environment (11%), and the economy (11%).
About this Study
These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters between September 3-4, 2019. For the survey, a sample of 1,116 Americans, including 950 registered voters, 437 Democratic registered voters, 380 Republican registered voters, and 98 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, 5.3 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, 5.7 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and 11.3 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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