House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), left, and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (AP)
(CNSNews.com) – A new Gallup poll on Congress and its leaders shows that only 23% of Americans view House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) favorably, and only 22% view his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) favorably.
Gallup further reports that Boehner’s ranking is similar to that of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in October 2010, when only 26% of Americans viewed her favorably. Also, for then-Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in October 2014, he was viewed favorably by only 21% of Americans.
When looking specifically at Republicans, Gallup found that only 37% had a favorable view of Boehner, and only 34% had a favorable view of McConnell.
Boehner has been the Speaker of the House of Representatives since January 2011. McConnell became the Senate Majority Leader in January of this year.
Beyond the favorable numbers, Gallup found that 54% of Americans view Boehner unfavorably; for McConnell, the unfavorable view was held by 41% of Americans.
For Republicans, 42% had an unfavorable view of Boehner and 32% had an unfavorably view of McConnell.
For Congress overall, Republicans and Democrats, only 14% of Americans approved of the job it is doing, which is down from 17% approval in July.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (AP)
“Even with the August break at hand, Congress is hardly in a position to be satisfied with its accomplishments this year,” said Gallup. “The legislative branch remains about as unpopular as it was for much of the late Bush presidency and has been throughout Obama's tenure, despite several changes in party control and, correspondingly, in leadership.”
“Indeed, the main congressional leaders -- House Speaker Boehner and Senator Majority Leader McConnell -- are not only unpopular figures with the public at large, they are also not particularly well-received even among Republicans,” said Gallup.
For the survey, Gallup conducted telephone interviews Aug. 5-9 with a random sample of 1,011 adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.