--- title: Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows description: Congress's approval rating is nearly at an all-time low, but Republicans are more dissatisfied with it than Democrats are. canonical: https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T18:50:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:34:34.498Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows og:description: Congress's approval rating is nearly at an all-time low, but Republicans are more dissatisfied with it than Democrats are. og:url: https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc11ae75a1967f4ae/69884d17e20a8711a9a8b0b6/us-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Congress Convenes On Columbus Day As Government Shutdown Continues og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows twitter:description: Congress's approval rating is nearly at an all-time low, but Republicans are more dissatisfied with it than Democrats are. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc11ae75a1967f4ae/69884d17e20a8711a9a8b0b6/us-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fbf31822-b32f-4f00-94aa-7b7760e2bc0b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 12, 2015 6:50 PM UTC  The U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2013. The U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2013. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 12, 2015 6:50 PM UTC Congress’s approval rating is nearly at an all-time low, but Republicans are more dissatisfied with it than Democrats are. A new [Gallup poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/186581/congress-job-approval-rating-slips.aspx) found that just 11% of Americans approve of Congress, the lowest percentage so far of 2015 and just above the all time low of 9% on the heels of the government shutdown in 2013. Among political parties, Republicans were the least approving of Congress. Only 8% of Republicans said they approve of the job Congress is doing, compared with 13% of Independents and 11% of Democrats. This despite the fact that Republicans currently control both houses — Gallup says approval tends to be higher among members of the majority party. The poll is based on interviews conducted between November 4 and November 8 with 1,021 adults living in the U.S. The margin of error is +- 4 percent. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/"},"headline":"Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows","datePublished":"2015-11-12T18:50:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:34:34.498Z","description":"Despite controlling both houses of Congress","url":"https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc11ae75a1967f4ae/69884d17e20a8711a9a8b0b6/us-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc11ae75a1967f4ae/69884d17e20a8711a9a8b0b6/us-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Congress Convenes On Columbus Day As Government Shutdown Continues","caption":"Congress Convenes On Columbus Day As Government Shutdown Continues","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4110500/congress-approval-rating-republican-democrat/","name":"Republicans Dislike Congress More Than Democrats, Poll Shows"}}]}] ```