Congress' New Low - Americans Have More Confidence In Banks, Organized Religion [Poll]

This might not be a surprise, but America’s confidence in Congress has sunk to a new low, 10 percent, according to Gallup. It is the lowest level the polling company has found for any institution on record.

In comparison, Americans have expressed more confidence in health maintenance organizations, or HMOs (19 percent), banks (26 percent), organized religion (48 percent) and organized labor (20 percent), Gallup’s poll shows. The military has top ranking among Americans at 76 percent -- an increase of 1 percentage point from last year. The survey of 1,529 adults was conducted between June 1 and 4.

Researchers believe a divided Congress is likely to be blamed. This divide has led to partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill that has prevented progress on budget issues and other issues that receive majority support from Americans like gun background checks.

Congress has been ranking low in Gallup’s record since 1973 when it was a high 42 percent. The company’s record also shows that the citizens’ confidence in the institution has been below 30 percent since 1991.