Fox News poll shows record 70% disapproval of congressional Democrats

With prices continuing to raise concerns and economic confidence weakening, voter anger toward Washington has reached new highs.

The majority say the economy is suffering, inflation is not under control, and the federal government is negligent.

A new Fox News poll found that 70% disapprove of the job Democrats in Congress They do, up 6 percentage points since December (29% agree).

Congressional Republicans’ views remained mostly consistent, with 36% approving and 64% disapproving.

This gap reflects greater party unity on the right: 77% of voters Republicans They approve of their party’s leaders, while only 62% of Democrats approve of their party’s leaders.

The bad mood extends beyond Congress. Eight percent are “enthusiastic” about how the federal government works, and another 26% are “satisfied.” But the majority are “dissatisfied” (33%) or “angry” (32%) with Washington.

While these views are similar to the one-year period of Joe Biden’s presidency (February 2022), there are two key differences. First, 8% of people who were enthusiastic and 32% who were angry reached record levels. Secondly, the intensity of partisanship has reversed. Republicans were more than four times more likely than Democrats to be angry in 2022, while Democrats are five times more likely than Republicans to feel that way now.

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“Political science research suggests that anger is a more powerful mobilizing force than hope or fear,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducted the poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Anger on the left may be one reason Democrats did so well in recent special elections and primaries in early 2026.”

A lot of this frustration seems to be rooted in… economy. Only 30% rated it favorably, down from 32% earlier in President Trump’s term (July 2025). More than twice as many say that economic conditions are only fair or bad.

Voters are still feeling cost pressures. Compared to last year, most say grocery prices have gone up (81%), including more than half who say they have gone up a lot (56%). Large numbers also say that utility (79%), health care (71%), housing (65%), and gas (51%) costs have increased.

While 22% say Economic inflation It is completely or mostly under control, the high is back in 2022, and most say it is not.

More than half, 57%, rate their personal finances negatively, and these ratings are particularly high among independents (61%), Black voters (66%), voters under 30 (66%), women (66%) and households with incomes under $50,000 (74%).

Only 9% say there are a lot of jobs in their communities that pay decent wages, while 15% say there are almost none.

Reflecting these concerns, half of voters identified the cost of living (50%) as the most important economic issue facing the country, far ahead of government spending (18%), jobs (10%), income inequality (9%), tariffs (8%) and taxes (4%).

Currently, 43% approve of the job and 57% disapprove Trump It generally does. The percentage was 44% and 56% in January and December.

Another 6 in 10 say he focuses on the wrong things. By comparison, 54% said Biden had the wrong focus in November 2021.

Almost all Democrats are dissatisfied with the job Trump is doing (95% disapprove) and say he is focusing on the wrong issues (94%). Republican unity is strong but not absolute: 87% approve and 83% say he has the right focus. There is a fault line within the Republican Party over support for the MAGA movement.

Among Republicans who sympathize with MAGA, the president’s approval rating rose to 98% compared to just 63% among non-MAGA Republicans. There is a similar 38-point gap in whether it focuses on the right issues (95% MAGA vs. 57% non-MAGA).

Most independents disapprove of Trump’s job performance (72%) and believe he is focused on the wrong issues (78%).

Border security is the president’s only positive issue, with 52% of voters approving (48% disapprove). His ratings fell by 35 points on the cost of living (32% approve, 67% disapprove), 27 points on tariffs, 23 points on the economy and health care, 20 points on foreign policy, 19 points on taxes, 13 points on jobs, and 6 points on immigration. Republicans rate Trump much more negatively on the cost of living (33% disapprove) than on other metrics.

Regarding tariffs, 63% of voters disapprove of how Trump will handle them, while another 56% oppose tariffs in general. The main concerns about tariffs are higher consumer costs, the risk of a trade war and decreased product availability. The main reasons for their support are to prevent unfair trade practices from other countries, protect U.S. jobs, and increase government revenue and reduce income commerce Impotence.

After the Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling limiting the administration’s tariff power, 62% say Trump is being treated fairly by the Supreme Court, including a majority of Democrats (76%) and independents (58%) and half of Republicans (50%).

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However, the court’s approval ratings have declined: 57% disapprove, up 7 points since last summer. The rise in disapproval is largely due to the disapproval rate doubling among Republicans, from 20% in 2025 to 39% today.

This Fox News poll was conducted from February 28 to March 2, 2026, under the supervision of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), and includes interviews with a sample of 1,004 registered voters randomly selected from the National Voter File. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cell phones (642) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (258). Results based on the full sample have a sampling error of ±3 percentage points. The sampling error for results between subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, the wording and order of the question can affect the results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and region variables to ensure that demographics represent the number of registered voters. Sources for developing weight goals include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News analysis of voters, and voter file data.

Fox News’ Victoria Palara contributed to this report.

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