



Updated 9:11 p.m. ET

Congress has reached a new low in job-approval ratings, with only 11% of adults giving lawmakers good marks in a new Gallup Poll.

The job-approval rating is the lowest since Gallup first started asking in 1974 whether Americans approve or disapprove of the way Congress handles its job. Nearly nine in 10 adults, or 86%, give a thumbs down to Congress in the new poll.

STORY: Americans unhappy with presidential race

The record-low rating comes as the 112th Congress struggles to complete its first session of the year. House Speaker John Boehner says his GOP majority will reject a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut that is backed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. But he's optimistic a deal can get done by a New Year's Day deadline.

Boehner told USA TODAY's Susan Davis that he's not surprised by the Gallup numbers. He believes Republicans need to do a better job selling themselves to the public.

"If you want the American people to know what it is you're doing, you've got to talk about it a lot. And then when you get sick of talking about it, you've got to talk about it a lot more," Boehner said.

"Americans won't know we cut spending two years in a row unless we tell them," he added.

In what could be especially damaging going into the 2012 elections, independents are the harshest when rating Congress.

Gallup finds that only 7% of independents -- the people in the middle who are the most coveted in an election -- approve of the way Congress does its job, compared with 12% of Republicans and 14% of Democrats.

The previous low job-approval rating for Congress in a Gallup Poll was 13%, recorded in August, October and November of this year as well as December 2010.