1 1 <p><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/121208/Congress-Approval-Rating-Drops-33.aspx">Public perceptions about the US Congress have dropped even further, according to Gallup</a>: "Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing has slipped to 33% this month, down from the recent high of 39% in March, but still significantly higher than job approval ratings of Congress over the last several years. Although there was no change in the control of either the House of Representatives or the Senate as a result of the 2008 elections, Americans' approval of Congress shot up concurrently with the inauguration of the new president in January -- going from 19% in early January to 31% in February to 39% in March. Congress' approval rating then dropped slightly in April and May, and this month is down further, as noted. . . . The slip in job approval to 33% this month appears to have been caused in part by a significant drop in approval among Democrats, whose 50% rating this month is the lowest since February. Republicans' rating is at 17% while independents' rating is at 31%, neither of which is sharply different from where each has been in the previous four months."</p> 2009-06-28T11:32:32-04:00 984 false true 2009-07-02T09:53:54-04:00 2009-07-02T09:53:54-04:00