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By Mandy Taheri
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Voters' disapproval of Democratic members in Congress has increased since February, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.
Newsweek reached out to the Senate and House Minority leaders, as well as the Democratic National Committee, via email on Wednesday for comment.
Why It Matters
Last November marked a pivotal election in the United States, with Donald Trump returning to the White House after winning both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The scale of the Republican Party's triumph in November—taking the White House, flipping the Senate, and maintaining control of the House—has sparked soul-searching within the Democratic Party over what went wrong and how to rebuild.
Read More on Politics
The Democratic Party has struggled with unpopularity and internal dissatisfaction since the sweeping defeat, facing pronounced ideological and generational divides, compounded by widespread voter frustration with congressional leaders and the party's overall direction.
Democratic leaders have come under criticism from within, some for pushing the party too far left, and others for appearing too conciliatory toward Trump, and a number who have felt disillusioned with its agenda have left the party entirely to either identify as independent or as a Republican.
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What To Know
A Quinnipiac University Poll of 1,265 registered voters nationwide, conducted between June 5 and June 9, found that disapproval of Democrats in Congress has increased since a February poll.
Seventy percent of participants said they disapprove of how Democrats are handling their jobs in Congress, while 21 percent approve. Among Democrats, 53 percent disapprove, and 41 percent approve. Just 9 percent of Republicans approve of Democrats' performance, while 84 percent disapprove.
A similar Quinnipiac University poll of 1,039 registered voters in February found that 68 percent of participants disapproved of congressional Democrats and 52 percent disapproved of congressional Republicans.
The June poll found that 61 percent of participants disapproved of congressional Republicans' handling of their jobs, while 32 percent approved. Among Republicans, 79 percent approve, and 13 percent disapprove. In contrast, only 2 percent of Democrats said they approve of Republicans' handling of their jobs, with 97 percent disapproving.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Other polls, like a May poll from the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago, found that most Democrats are not particularly optimistic about their own party.
The poll, which surveyed 1,175 adults nationwide from May 1 to May 5, found only 35 percent of Democrats are optimistic about the party's future, while 36 percent are pessimistic. Twenty-nine percent said they are neither.
The latest figures are worse for Democrats than in July 2024, when a poll found that 57 percent were optimistic about the party's future. Twenty-six percent were pessimistic, while 16 percent said they felt neither way.
That earlier poll was conducted from July 25 to July 29 among 1,148 adults, just days after former President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.
In the early days of the Harris campaign, many Democrats felt hopeful about her chances of victory, as polls showed her more competitive against Trump than Biden, who had faced growing questions about his ability to lead the country for another four years.
Polling showing disapproval with the Democrats comes after party divisions widened in the wake of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and several colleagues supporting a Trump-backed Republican spending bill, a move that triggered internal backlash and led to calls for new leadership and more aggressive opposition to Trump's policies.
However, YouGov's congressional ballot tracker, which tests which party voters would choose in a congressional election, shows that the Democrats are more than 1.5 points ahead of the Republicans, with 43.9 percent to the GOP's 42.6 percent.
What People Are Saying
John Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy, told Newsweek: "The Democrats are not leading their activists but being led by their activists. And the American people don't like their activists because they are mostly crazy."
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, speculated as a potential presidential candidate for Democrats, said in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in May: "Democrats do not have the best brand around here or in a lot of places. There's a lot of reasons for that. Some fair, and some not fair."
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in a statement about her book: "Until January 20, I was responsible for speaking on behalf of the President of the United States. At noon on that day, I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country. I determined that the danger we face as a country requires freeing ourselves of boxes. We need to be willing to exercise the ability to think creatively and plan strategically."
CNN pollster Harry Enten said in May: "These numbers should be a major wake-up call for Democrats. Democrats cannot count their chickens just yet, because those eggs have not cracked at this particular moment."
What Happens Next
Democrats are continuing to work out the direction of the party as they prepare for the 2026 midterms, when they aim to win back voters who shifted toward Trump last year.
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