🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Democratic leaders in Congress got more bad news this week after new polling showed confidence in their leadership has reached a historic low.
Why It Matters
Democratic leaders have struggled to mount an effective response to President Donald Trump and Republicans since their defeat in the 2024 election, in which they lost control of the Senate and the White House while the GOP held its majority in the House of Representatives. Many Democratic voters have expressed frustration and some within the party are pushing for primary challenges against longtime incumbents.
What To Know
New polling carried out by Gallup from April 1 to 14 showed that confidence in Democratic congressional leadership has hit an all-time low since the organization has surveyed voters on the issue going back to 2001.
Just 25 percent of respondents expressed confidence in Democratic congressional leadership, down 9 points from the previous historic low of 34 percent set in 2023. The confidence level is also significantly below Democrats' historic average, which has been about 45 percent since 2001.
Meanwhile, confidence in congressional Republican leadership is on the upswing and is double digits ahead of Democrats.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they are confident in GOP leadership, up slightly from 36 percent last year. That level is also 14 points higher than current confidence in Democrats.
The poll surveyed 1,006 adults across the U.S. and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, at the 95 percent confidence level.
When reached for comment on Saturday, a press representative for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries referred Newsweek to comments the New York Democrat made during an interview with Fox 5's Good Day New York on Wednesday.
"It's an all-hands-on-deck moment. And I understand that Donald Trump is intentionally flooding the zone day-after-day-after-day. It's a parade of horribles. And that, of course, has people disconcerted. We understand that," he said.
"And all of us have to continue, as [Senator] Cory Booker, [a New Jersey Democrat], eloquently said on the Senate floor, do more to make sure we are protecting the American way of life. And that's our intention to continue to do so. Certainly, these days of action build upon things that have happened in the past," Jeffries said.
Newsweek reached out to press representatives for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, for comment on Saturday.
Previous Polls Signaled Bad News for Democrats
In March, CNN released new polling of 1,206 U.S. adults carried out by SSRS, which showed the Democratic Party's favorability rating standing at just 29 percent. According to CNN, that marked a record low in the media outlet's polling data going all the way back to 1992. It also represented a 20-point drop since the end of Trump's first term in January 2021.
Comparatively, the Republican Party's favorability among the American public, while not strong, stood somewhat higher at 36 percent. This was largely due to the fact that most Republicans viewed their party favorably whereas Democrats expressed substantial dissatisfaction.
Among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, 79 percent viewed their party favorably. When it came to Democrats and Democrat-leaners, that number stood at just 63 percent, which is a large double-digit decline from 81 percent at the outset of former President Joe Biden's term in January 2021.
The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. Notably, the survey was conducted from March 6 to 9, prior to 10 members of the Senate's Democratic Caucus voting to move forward a Trump-backed funding bill that averted a government shutdown.
That came after a February poll from SurveyUSA showed only 22 percent of Democrats said Democrats in Congress are standing up to Trump the right amount. The majority—60 percent—say Democrats aren't doing enough to stand up to Trump. The poll surveyed 1,705 registered voters from February 13 to 16.
A recent Quinnipiac poll also gave red flags for Democrats in Congress. Only 40 percent of Democrats in the poll said they approved of how Democrats in Congress were doing their job, compared to 49 percent who disapproved. The poll surveyed 1,039 registered voters from February 13 to 17.
Jason Roe, a Republican political strategist, told Newsweek on Saturday that Democrats' low approval among voters has "little to do with some newfound affection for Republicans, it is a combination of Democratic failures."
"First, years of focus on bizarre political causes like gender identity, white supremacy, open borders, and utopian climate and economic policies; and feckless leadership that can't quite figure out how to go after Trump effectively," Roe said.
What People Are Saying
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, on X, formerly Twitter, last Sunday: "Poll after poll shows the American people are waking up to Trump's broken promises. In less than 100 days, Trump has threatened health care, Social Security, & raised costs all while catering to the ultra-rich. Democrats won't stop fighting to limit the damage from Trump's chaos."
Republican political strategist Jason Roe to Newsweek: "I don't think [the polling] significantly changes electoral consequences at this point in the cycle. I think that will be driven by candidate quality, which means the 2026 elections are still completely in the air. The map in the Senate is nearly Democrat-proof, but the House, with a 7-seat majority today, and likely a 5-seat majority eighteen months from now, is going to be a jump ball."
Charlotte Clymer, a Democratic operative, previously told Newsweek: "At the moment, we are rudderless. There is no sense of vision. The messaging is abysmal. Members of Congress are privately admitting to reporters that they're not sure what our direction is supposed to be. Above all, we need leadership who will fight back and show voters we stand against the disastrous actions of Trump and Elon Musk."
What Happens Next?
Some Democrats are making efforts to rally voters across the country, even holding events in states and districts won by Trump.
The 2026 midterm election will be a key test of the party, with control of the House and Senate up for grabs. While most analysts believe it will be difficult for Democrats to win back the Senate, the House, with its small margin, could be within the party's reach.
fairness meter
About the writer
Jason Lemon is a Senior Politics Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused ... Read more