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Speaker Johnson, Gop leaders on Govt. Shutdown
House Speaker Johnson along with other GOP leaders continue to speakout on federal government shutdown as the U.S. reaches day 22. President Donald Trump on Tuesday rebuffed a request by top Democratic lawmakers to meet until the three-week-old U.S. government shutdown ends.
WASHINGTON - As the partial federal government shutdown enters its third week in the U.S., a new poll is revealing how Americans feel about Congress.
These findings are from Gallup’s Oct. 1-16, 2025, poll that began on the first day of the government shutdown.
Approval rating of Congress declines
By the numbers:
According to the survey, Americans’ approval rating of Congress has dropped to the teens, declining 11 percentage points to 15%, similar to approval a year ago. Nearly four in five U.S. adults, 79%, now disapprove.
U.S. Representatives of the 119th Congress are sworn in during the first day of session in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) retained his Speakership in the face of opposit …
The 11-point drop is owed largely to a sharp decline among Republicans and, to a lesser degree, independents. Amid the government shutdown, Republicans’ approval sunk 21 points, and independents’ was down nine points. At 7% last month, Democrats’ approval of the Republican-controlled 119th Congress had little room to fall and fell to 5%.
Trump’s job rating remains steady
Dig deeper:
At the same time, President Donald Trump’s job rating remained steady, with 41% of Americans approving and 54% disapproving. Trump’s current approval rating is slightly higher than his average 40.3% in the third quarter, which spanned July 20 to Oct. 19.
Partisans’ ratings of the president were also largely stable, with 91% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 6% of Democrats approving of the job he is doing.
Poll released amid government shutdown, following ceasefire
Big picture view:
The poll ended less than a week after the Trump administration’s brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war went into effect and hostages on both sides were freed.
RELATED: How the government shutdown will impact the economy
Since February, after the Republican Party assumed control of both houses of Congress and the presidency, Republicans’ approval of the body has ranged from 49% to 63%, while independents’ has only been as high as 26% and Democrats’ has been in single digits. The current decline in Republicans’ approval of Congress may reflect their disapproval of congressional Democrats.
Meanwhile, Republicans’ unchanged rating of the president suggests that either their approval of Trump is unaffected by recent events or that the positive (Israel-Hamas ceasefire) and negative events (government shutdown) are offsetting each other, according to Gallup.
The Source: The information for this story was provided by Gallup’s poll conducted Oct. 1-16, 2025. The poll began on the first day of the government shutdown and ended less than a week after the Trump administration’s brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war went into effect. This story was reported from Los Angeles.