Gallup Poll: Americans Say They Trust Congress Least

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans say they trust local government the most while state government ranks second to solve problems, but just a little more than a third say they trust Congress, the least trusted, according to the latest Gallup survey released Friday.

In its annual survey on trust in government institutions, Gallup found that 67% of Americans say they trust local government to solve local problems while 32% say they trust Congress to handle domestic problems.

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say they trust state government, and 55% trust the American people “as a whole” to handle issues facing the United States. The judicial branch earned 49% in the survey, followed by the federal government (44%), executive branch (41%), political candidates (40%), the federal government (37%) followed by Congress, which is down 6 points from the 38% Gallup recorded for lawmakers in last year’s survey.

“Most Americans still retain trust in local and state governments, and at similar levels to what Gallup has measured historically,” Gallup said in its findings. “They may see these levels of government as more responsive to their concerns and more capable, as the federal government continues to suffer from gridlock in a politically divided nation.”

Gallup conducted the survey Sept. 1-23, one week before Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown. And since then, the GOP-led House has ousted its speaker and continues to operate without one while the clock ticks on the next potential shutdown next month.

Gallup found that trust in every level of government is down across the board since 1972. The 67% trust in local government is down 3 points against the average, while the judicial branch of government — led by the Supreme Court — is down 17 points against the average since 1972, the biggest drop in the survey.

“American citizens continue to lack trust in the federal government, with less than half expressing a great deal or fair amount of trust in any federal government institution,” Gallup said in its summary. “This includes the Supreme Court, which had long been among the most trusted institutions but has seen that trust erode amid a series of conservative-leaning rulings, including its unpopular decision on abortion.”

Gallup surveyed 1,016 adults in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.