Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Americans believe most members of Congress have extramarital affairs following Nevada Senator John Ensign’s admission that he cheated on his wife with a campaign staffer.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey – taken Wednesday and Thursday nights - finds that 24% do not think most Congress members have affairs. Thirty-eight percent (38%) are not sure.

Americans are evenly divided over the question of whether a politician who has an affair should resign or be forced out of office. Forty percent (40%) say they should quit or be made to step down, while 41% disagree. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.

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After disclosing his extramarital affair, Ensign resigned as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the number four party leadership slot in the Senate, but will remain a member of the Senate.

Most South Carolina voters think their governor, Mark Sanford, who was caught earlier this week and admitted to an extramarital affair, is about as ethical as most politicians, but 46% say he should resign. Sanford was a member of Congress before he was elected governor.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Americans nationwide say they have less trust in a politician who is caught in a sex scandal, while 31% say their level of trust is unchanged.

Republicans are slightly more skeptical of congressional morals than Democrats and Americans not affiliated with either party. Married adults are less suspicious that those who are not married.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of Republicans say a politician who has an affair should resign or be forced out, compared to 39% of Democrats and 35% of unaffiliateds.

The findings about congressional morals are perhaps not surprising given the general low opinion Americans have of Congress.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) don’t think most members of Congress even pay all the taxes they owe.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Americans trust their own judgment more than that of the average member of Congress when it comes to economic issues facing the nation.

Only 23% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job, but that’s the legislature’s highest rating since May 2007.

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