A majority of Republicans said Congress would be better if most members lost their jobs. Polls: Shutdown nightmare for GOP

The public’s opinion of Congress and the Republican Party has plummeted in the wake of the government shutdown, with two new polls showing record and near-record levels of disapproval.

Forty-seven percent of those surveyed said Congress would be better off if nearly every member was replaced in a new USA Today/Princeton Survey Research poll. Only 4 percent said replacing nearly every member would make Congress worse.


That tops the 40 percent who felt it would be better for Congress in 1994, when Democrats lost their majority, and the 42 percent who felt that way in 2006, when Republicans lost their majority.

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Among Republicans, who have the majority in the House, 52 percent said Congress would be better off if most members lost their jobs.

The poll also found Republicans taking the blame for the shutdown: Americans said the GOP was responsible over Democrats 39 percent to 19 percent, with 36 percent blaming both parties equally.

Congress also received its worst approval rating ever in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Just 12 percent approved of the job Congress was doing, and 85 percent disapproved — 70 percent strongly. That is Congress’s worst rating in the nearly 25-year history of the Post’s polling on the subject, and compares to a 31 percent approval of Congress before the 1996 election. In July, Congress’s approval was at 21 percent.

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President Barack Obama’s approval has held steady during the shutdown, at 48 percent approval to 49 percent disapproval in Tuesday’s poll.

The Post poll also found Republicans bearing the brunt of Americans’ anger: Only 32 percent, a new low, viewed the GOP favorably, and Americans blamed them for the shutdown over Obama, 53 percent to 29 percent.

On Wednesday evening, a CNN/ORC International poll sent more bad news to members of the GOP, giving the party its lowest rating in the poll’s history; 64 percent of respondents hold an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. CNN first asked the question in 1992.

The CNN/ORC poll also showed that the Democratic Party’s unfavorability rating remains virtually unchanged since before the shutdown began Oct. 1.

USA Today surveyed 1,001 adults from Oct. 17 to 20 for its poll, which has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Post surveyed 1,002 adults in the same time frame for its poll, which has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The CNN/ORC poll surveyed 841 adults from Oct. 18 to 20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Jose DelReal contributed to this report.