The latest numbers come as Congress is again bickering over a payroll tax cut. Congress rating drops to new low

Just when you didn’t think Congress could get any worse in the eyes of the public, it has.

Gallup said in new poll Wednesday that a mere 10 percent of 1,029 participants approve of Congress’s performance – a record low for the respected polling outfit. Congress’s job approval rating was 13 percent in January and 11 percent in December.


Independents, at 8 percent, are most likely to disapprove of Congress, Gallup said. And Democrats and Republicans are about equally disgusted with lawmakers, giving them respective 11 percent and 12 percent approval ratings.

The average job approval rating for all of 2011 was 17 percent, according to Gallup.

The latest numbers come as Congress is again bickering over how to extend a temporary payroll tax cut that affects 160 million Americans, as well as jobless benefits and a delay of steep payment cuts for doctors who provide Medicare.

The tax cut and other provisions expire at the end of the month. Lawmakers are at loggerheads over how to pay for an extension, as well as some policy changes affecting unemployment insurance.

“It is notable that President [Barack] Obama has continued to make criticism of Congress a part of his broad presidential reelection strategy,” Gallup’s Frank Newport wrote in his analysis.

The poll was conducted Feb. 2 through Feb. 5 and surveyed 1,029 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.