Topline results and crosstabs for the poll can be found at www.umass.edu/poll

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A new national University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll has found more than two-thirds—68%—of the American public continues to disapprove of Congress’s performance, and that while voters believe the primary cause of the legislative branch’s polarization is money in politics, they point to term and age limits as the top ways to reform Congress.

The survey, conducted Aug. 21-26, found that just 22% of the 1,000 respondents approve of the way Congress is going its job, with only 3% strongly approving of it. Meanwhile, a plurality of 41% say they strongly disapprove of Congress’s performance.

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“2026 has not been a stellar year for the U.S. Congress,” Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll, says. “Members have faced allegations of domestic abuse, sexual harassment and staff misconduct, while congressional stock disclosures have raised questions about members profiting from investments, including those in companies they are responsible for regulating. All of this comes as Americans struggle with rising costs for gas, groceries, utilities, and housing and as Congress has passed just 102 laws this session, putting it on pace to become one of the least-productive Congresses in modern history. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that 68% of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing.”
 

“The old expression goes that ‘Congress bleeds by 535 cuts,’ because a collective body like that has no real champions, no defenders in the court of public opinion,” explains Alexander Theodoridis, associate professor of political science and co-director of the UMass Poll. “Consistent with this punching-bag status, only 22% of Americans approve of the job the U.S. Congress is doing. We asked people who disapprove of Congress to tell us why in their own words—nearly 4 in 10 talked about the failure to provide a check on the president. Others talked about corruption, failure to represent constituents and partisan gridlock.”

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“A strong majority of Americans disapproves of Congress, and one reason why comes through loud and clear: many Americans believe that Congress is currently a ‘do-nothing’ institution,” says Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll. “Among those who express this criticism, the loudest complaint is that Congress is not doing enough to stand up to President Trump. As our poll results show, Trump is very unpopular, with only a third of Americans approving of his job performance. In this environment, many Americans want Congress to do more to check his unpopular agenda. Unfortunately, at least for the next few months, this is unlikely. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and are unlikely to check the president's decisions.”

Nteta explains that Americans’ frustration with Congress is rooted in three concerns, “Congress has ceded too much power to the executive branch, the institution has become corrupt, and members are failing to adequately represent their constituents and address their needs,” he says. “With the midterm elections only months away, these deep frustrations with Congress could prove costly for incumbents in both parties as voters head to the polls increasingly dissatisfied with the representation they are receiving from Washington.”

So, the institution of Congress continues to hold dismal approval numbers, but do Americans view their own members of Congress in a more positive light? Not really, according to the new poll.

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“The conventional wisdom is that Americans hate Congress as an institution, but love their own elected representative,” Rhodes says. “Our survey confirms that Americans hate Congress, as two-thirds currently disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, but we find little evidence that Americans approve of their own representative. More Americans disapprove (38%) than approve (28%) of their member of Congress, and one 1 in 3 have no opinion at all. This is further evidence of the deep dissatisfaction of many Americans with their elected officials.”

“This year’s primaries have been unusually unforgiving for congressional incumbents, with a significant number losing their party’s nomination to challengers and many predicting that incumbents—particularly Republicans in the U.S. House—could face a difficult general election,” Nteta explains. “Voters point to two central reasons for their dissatisfaction: their representative is failing to effectively represent the district and its constituents and they believe their representative is too willing to follow the lead of President Trump. For members of Congress facing competitive races, our findings offer important clues about what voters expect from their representatives. But with just two months until Election Day, the clock is ticking. Incumbents have little time left to convince dissatisfied voters that they are delivering the representation they expect. Failure to do so could result in more incumbents joining the growing ranks of those who have already been shown the door.”
 

Americans’ views on bipartisanship and the role of their member of Congress

The new UMass Amherst Poll also asked respondents about their expectations of members of Congress, including what they believe their most important responsibilities should be and what should be guiding members’ votes.

“Heading into the midterm elections, we wanted to get a sense of what Americans expect from Congress,” Theodoridis explains. “An old philosophical debate hinges on whether representatives should serve as delegates, who vote based on the views of their constituents, or trustees, who vote based on what they think is right. Most Americans want members of Congress to follow the wishes of their constituents, even if that conflicts with their own opinion. About 6 in 10 respondents, regardless of party identification, favored this delegate model. And 4 in 10 respondents said the most important job of the U.S. Congress is to represent constituents.”

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“For all the attention Washington gives to passing legislation, voters put representation first,” says Raymond La Raja, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll. “Forty-one percent say Congress’s most important responsibility is representing constituents, compared with 25% who choose checking presidential power and just 18% who choose making laws. The public wants members of Congress to remember for whom they work.”

La Raja notes that the poll found one side of the aisle epitomizes this view of representation.

“MAGA populism means members of Congress should do what their voters say, not use their own judgment,” he says. “The strongest MAGA Republicans hold an especially populist view of representation—76% say members should follow their constituents even when they personally disagree, compared with 61% of somewhat-MAGA Republicans and 52% of Republicans who do not identify with MAGA. The deeper that voters are in the MAGA movement, the more strongly they believe representatives are not supposed to use their own judgment.”

“Among the minority who approve of Congress, a major theme is that Congress is doing a good job representing their constituents,” Rhodes adds. “These survey respondents appreciate that their members of Congress respond to concerns expressed in the district and advance their policy priorities. For this minority, Congress is doing more or less what it was designed to do.”

Nteta notes that the poll showed that one possible path toward greater congressional approval may be through bipartisanship.

“Much has been made of the partisan divide among Americans, the antipathy that partisans feel toward one another, and their desire to see their representatives shun opportunities to work across the aisle,” Nteta says. “While this depiction of American politics is a regular feature of partisan television and social media, our poll suggests that Americans may be more supportive of bipartisanship than the political environment in Washington would suggest. Six in 10 Americans support their members of Congress working with members of the opposing party on shared legislation (60%) and attending events with them (56%). Americans are also supportive of members breaking with their party to vote their conscience (59%) or to support legislation that reflects the preferences of their constituents (64%).

“Notably, these views cut across partisan and ideological lines,” he adds, “with roughly 6 in 10 Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, and Harris and Trump voters all expressing support for these forms of bipartisanship. At a time when Washington is increasingly defined by partisan conflict, our findings suggest that Americans are not demanding more division from their representatives, they are asking them to find ways to work together and get things done.”

Nteta adds that the poll’s respondents point to a familiar evil—money—as the cause for the deep political polarization preventing bipartisan compromise.

“According to scholars, Congress today is more ideologically polarized than at any point in modern American history,” he says. “Americans point to money in politics as a key culprit, with nearly 4 in 10 identifying it as the most important reason Congress has become so polarized. With billions of dollars being spent on presidential and congressional elections, Americans may be growing weary of the outsized role money plays in our politics and could increasingly look to restrict its influence as a way to address the polarization that continues to divide Washington.”

However, Theodoridis explains that while “tightening limits on campaign contributions” was a top-three choice for Congressional reform, the most popular option selected by the poll’s respondents to “make Congress work better” is easier to discuss than it is to implement.

“We asked respondents what reforms would make Congress work better and the most popular choice was term limits, likely reflecting frustration with the status quo,” he says. “Unfortunately, that would likely require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot add additional eligibility requirements for federal office.”

“Given how unpopular Congress is, it should be no surprise that term limits top the list of reforms that Americans think are necessary to make Congress work better,” Rhodes says. “In essence, many Americans have thrown up their hands with the current occupants of ‘America's House,’ and are in the mood to just ‘throw the bums out.’ Although term limits are extraordinarily unlikely, popular support for this reform points to many Americans’ desire for fresh faces in the House and Senate.”
 

Democrats lead the “enthusiasm race” ahead of midterms

Finally, the latest UMass Poll also gauged respondents’ enthusiasm toward the upcoming midterm elections.

“Democrats currently hold the enthusiasm advantage heading into the midterms,” La Raja explains. “Sixty-seven percent of Democrats are at least somewhat enthusiastic, compared with 59% of Republicans, and Democrats lead 42-30 among those who are very enthusiastic. That enthusiasm gap typically favors the party out of power, which helps them win seats. And we are seeing it again in this election.”

Theodoridis concurs, saying, “Midterm elections are historically unkind to a president’s party and, with Trump’s anemic approval ratings, widespread economic unease, and an unpopular conflict in Iran, 2026 is not shaping up to be an anomaly. Democratic candidates should be expected to have both historical and contextual wind in their sails. Accordingly, just before campaigns kick into their post-Labor Day high gear, we see evidence that Democrats are benefiting from an enthusiasm gap. In a generic U.S. House ballot question, Democrats enjoy a sizeable advantage. The U.S. Senate generic ballot only favors Democrats slightly, though, which shouldn’t be surprising as about two-thirds of the Senate seats up for grabs this year are in red states.”

La Raja notes that the most energized factions in both parties are on the extremes—within MAGA on the right and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) on the left.

“The political center may decide close elections, but the ideological wings are supplying much of the energy,” he says. “Enthusiasm falls by 43 points between the strongest MAGA Republicans and non-MAGA Republicans—81% to 38%—and  by 31 points between the strongest DSA-identifying Democrats and Democrats who reject that label—86% to 55%. The most committed voters are not merely at the extremes of the party, they are also much more likely to be motivated to turn out.”

Theodoridis adds that the man who sits at the Resolute Desk, though not personally on the ballot, is shaping up to have an outsized effect on the elections.

“Donald Trump appears to be a major motivator for Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections,” he says. “More than 8 in 10 Democrats tell us they will be voting in significant part based on how they feel about the president. Only 49% of Republicans tell us the same thing about the figurehead of their party.”

And what role will the prototypical “swing voters”—independents—play in November?

“Independent voters are the missing piece in the midterm enthusiasm picture, as 71% say they are not too enthusiastic or not at all enthusiastic, including nearly half who are not enthusiastic at all,” La Raja says. “The challenge for both parties is not simply going to be persuading independents. It will be actually getting them to show up at the polls or send in their ballot.”
 

Methodology

This University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll of 1,000 respondents nationally was conducted by YouGov Aug. 21-26. The respondents were matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race and education. The sampling frame was constructed by stratified sampling from the full 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year sample with selection within strata by weighted sampling with replacements (using the person weights on the public use file).

The matched cases were weighted to the sampling frame using propensity scores. The matched cases and the frame were combined, and a logistic regression was estimated for inclusion in the frame. The propensity score function included age, gender, race/ethnicity, years of education, region and home ownership. The propensity scores were grouped into deciles of the estimated propensity score in the frame and post-stratified according to these deciles.

The weights were then raked (iterative proportional fitting) on 2024 presidential vote choice and post-stratified using a four-way stratification of gender, age (4-categories), race (4-categories) and education (4-categories) to produce the final weight.

The margin of error of this poll is 3.5%.

Topline results and crosstabs for the poll can be found at www.umass.edu/poll