Congress’s job approval slides

The new Gallup sampling finds that only 14 percent of U.S. adults are satisfied by lawmakers’ recent performance on Capitol Hill.

The results released Wednesday show a 3-point drop in approval for lawmakers, Gallup added, down from 17 percent in July.

The polling agency’s latest survey finds that Americans give low marks to GOP leadership in both chambers of the Republican-led 114th Congress.

Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) receives a 54 percent unfavorable rating for his work in the House. His 23 percent favorable rating, down from 27 percent in March, is the lowest of his tenure as Speaker.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) does not fare much better than Boehner.

Gallup found that 41 percent view the Kentucky lawmaker favorably, compared with 22 percent who see him in a more favorable light. McConnell also has less name recognition among U.S. adults, Gallup said, with 37 percent saying they are unfamiliar with or have no opinion of him.

Both Boehner and McConnell are also grappling with low support from Republicans, the polling agency said.

Boehner receives a 42 percent unfavorable rating from GOP voters, compared with 37 percent who view him favorably and 20 percent without an opinion.

McConnell fares slightly better, seen favorably by 34 percent unfavorably by 32 percent. Another third of Republicans have not heard of the senator, however.

Gallup conducted its new poll Aug 5–9. It randomly sampled 1,011 adults nationwide via cellular and landline telephone calls. The polling agency said on Wednesday its new sampling has a 4 percentage point margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.