Public approval of the job Republican leaders in Congress are doing has fallen to just 28%, down from 34% a month ago and the lowest levelin Pew Research surveys going back 15 years. Slightly more than half (51%) say they disapprove. With the drop in GOP approval, the gap between public evaluations of Democratic and Republican congressional leaders is the largest Pew Research has recorded over the past eight years in which both party’s leaders have been evaluated. Currently, 47% of Americans approve of the job Democratic leaders in Congress are doing — virtually unchanged from a month ago and 19 points higher than the approval rating for Republicans. For most of the past decade, approval of Republicans and Democrats in Congress have tracked very closely together. Since February, the drop in GOP approval has been the steepest among Republicans themselves. Just 43% of Republicans say they approve of the job their party’s leaders in Congress are doing — nearly as many (37%) say they disapprove. This is a 12-point drop in approval from a month ago, when 55% of Republicans gave their party’s congressional leaders a positive evaluation. Approval of GOP leaders has slipped among Democrats and independents, but only slightly. Today, 26% of independents approve of GOP leaders’ performance, as do 19% of Democrats. Read More