Congress has a 12% approval rating, according to a recent Gallup survey. The results aren’t a surprise to anyone, especially since the legislative branch hasn’t had an approval rating above 40% since 2005.
However, it’s not just the public that isn’t happy with Congress, members of Congress aren’t happy either.
“I think there’s a couple of reasons why people are so frustrated with the Senate as it currently operates,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “One is we’re not actually doing anything. We don’t vote on Mondays, we come in on Tuesdays, we vote in the evening and then we leave after lunch on Thursday. And this is one of the least productive Senate’s that I’ve served in.”
There’s equal frustration with the light schedule in the House.
“So fly in, fly out days, you know because we’re only here, call it maybe 10 days, 10 nights a month, 11 nights a month,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said. “You know, we’re running around, we don’t all serve on the same committees. Some people are giving speeches on the floor, the floor’s empty, no one’s here when they’re doing that.”
As per the approval rating, that same Gallup survey found that 83% outright disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, and 5% had no opinion. Cornyn is running to be the chamber’s Republican leader and his pitch to colleagues is that he’ll fix that.
“I’ve been here when the senator has worked, where the committees have worked and where the senators had a chance to actually be a senator and represent their state and this is not it. So I think we can do better,” Cornyn told reporters.
There’s also frustration with the way in which bills are negotiated. It often happens behind closed doors and many members don’t know what’s in a piece of legislation until it gets released to the public, which is part of the reason the recent Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and border security package failed.
“This crazy idea that, you know, a handful of people can write bills behind closed doors and roll them out without adequate time to read them and debate them,” Cornyn said. “That’s not the way the Senate should operate.”
Cornyn is running against Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to be the chamber’s party leader. Whoever wins will replace Sen. Mitch McConnell R-Ky.
