Congress approval rating hovering at its record low, Gallup poll finds
The 113th Congress is sworn in Jan. 3, 2013 in Washington, D.C. As polarization increases, the debt ceiling, sequestration, and the 2013 budget will become increasingly difficult to handle.
Congress is still sitting at its record low approval rating of 15 percent, the latest Gallup poll has found.
Though 2013 has seen a slight uptick of one point, eight out of ten Americans disapprove of the country's lawmakers, but is still at the bottom of the barrel in terms of historical approval ratings.
Last year in February and August, Congress dropped to its lowest-ever approval of 10 percent, MSNBC reported.
The approval for Congress continues to be much lower than the nation's approval of President Obama, the survey noted.
"This may in part reflect the difference between rating an institution versus rating a particular person; no doubt many Americans would rate their individual representative in Congress higher than they would rate Congress overall," Gallup explains.
"Still, the disparity may give Obama the upper hand when it comes to generating public support on various policy issues and laws where congressional leaders and the president disagree."
Gallup has been conducting the Congress approval rating survey since 1974, according to Slate.
The general approval of US lawmakers has fallen a steady two points or so a year since 2010, when it was at 19 percent.
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