Trust in U.S. Legislative Branch 40%, Highest in Nine Years.
Byline: Megan Brenan
Synopsis: Americans' trust in the U.S. legislative branch is the highest in nine years, with 40% expressing "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust in it.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' trust and confidence in the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government is at its highest point in nine years, with 40% saying they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust in it. This latest confidence reading marks a slight, five-percentage-point uptick for the legislative branch since last year and brings it in line with the executive branch's 42% confidence rating for the first time in a decade. The judicial branch continues to inspire the most trust with a 68% confidence rating.
Gallup has measured trust in the three branches of government since 1972, including annually since 1997, with the latest readings coming from a Sept. 4-12 poll. The current reading was taken during the Senate Judiciary Committee's first-round confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's controversial Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but before last week's high-drama congressional hearings on allegations that Kavanaugh had engaged in an act of sexual assault.
Although overall trust in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, identified as "the legislative branch" in this measure, has risen slightly among all Americans in the past year, it nonetheless remains well below the historical average of 50% dating back to 1972. The public's trust in the judicial and executive branches is flat compared with last year, but trust in the judicial branch matches its historical average while the reading for the presidency is well below its 54% historical average.
Americans had the most trust in the three branches collectively before the Watergate crisis in 1974 and again in the late 1990s and early 2000s, largely because of a strong economy and the rally effect after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Since 2008, trust in the legislative branch has been below 50% among all Americans. Yet, between 1997 and 2007, confidence never fell below 50% and was as high as 68% in 2000.
The current slight increase in the public's overall trust in Congress is solely the result of increased confidence from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. There has been no change among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents' confidence since 2016.
Before this year, there had been little divergence in partisans' confidence in Congress, with the exception of...
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