Gallup: Only 18% approve of Congress's performance

Public approval of Congress remains in short supply in September, with 18% of Americans now approving of the job it is doing, similar to the 19% approving in August. Congress' approval rating has not been above 20% since May, and has not surpassed 30% since September 2009.

The latest findings are from a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Sept. 13-16. The decline in approval of Congress since the beginning of 2009 has closely paralleled the drop in approval for President Barack Obama over the same period. Both the president and the Democratic-led Congress saw a sharp slide in their public approval ratings last summer, punctuated by a sharp drop in October. Their ratings subsequently leveled off, but fell slightly further this summer, and remain at the lower level today.

Congress' current approval rating is now approaching Gallup's record low of 14%, measured in July 2008, and is already worse than the lowest congressional approval score in a midterm election year, 21% in 1994 and 2006.