With the new session of Congress under way, voters aren’t optimistic that things will get any better, but they are growing more convinced that Congress should follow President Trump’s lead.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 31% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the new Congress will be better than the one that has served for the past two years. Thirty-four percent (34%) think the new Congress will be worse, while 23% feel it will be about the same. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

As they look to the year ahead though, 41% say that Congress should do more of what Trump wants, up from 29% in January 2017. Slightly more (48%) say that the president should do what Congress wants, down from 56% in the prior survey. Twelve percent (12%) are undecided.

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Prior to midterm elections, 52% of voters said it would be better for the country if Congress works with Trump most of the time. Thirty-eight percent (38%) thought it’d be better if Congress opposes the president most of the time.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on January 6-7, 2019 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

A November survey found that an overwhelming majority (68%) say it is more important for the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives to focus on policy areas where it can work with the president and his fellow Republicans.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of Democrats think the new Congress will be better than the one that has served for the past two years, but 52% of Republicans think it will be worse. Among voters not affiliated with either political party, 23% say the new Congress will be better, 39% say it will be worse and 27% say it will be about the same.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Democrats believe it would be better for the country if Trump does more of what Congress wants. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Republicans think it’s best if Congress does more of what the president wants. Unaffiliated voters are evenly divided.

Older voters have more hope in the new Congress while younger voters are more inclined to believe Trump should follow Congress’ lead.

Trump supporters tend to think the new Congress will be worse than its predecessors. They also overwhelmingly believe it’s better for the country if Congress does more of what the president wants.

Voters are overwhelmingly aware that there’s a partial shutdown of the federal government, but so far at least it isn’t bothering them.

Nancy Pelosi is the most powerful Democrat in Washington, D.C., but voters prefer that Trump lead the way.

Half of voters believe the president is setting the agenda in Washington, D.C., these days.

Voters give Trump the edge over the new Democratic-controlled House of Representatives when it comes to which will be more beneficial to the next Democratic presidential candidate, but Democrats themselves see the House as a bigger factor.

Twenty-four percent (24%) rated the old Congress as doing a good or excellent job. That finding was generally higher than what voters have rated Congress in past years.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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