The U.S. Congress has done little in recent weeks to improve perceptions of its performance. Just 16% of likely voters think it's doing an Excellent (2%) or Good (14%) job, while 35% are willing to call the legislature's performance Fair. A plurality of 47% say Congress is doing a Poor job (see crosstabs).

That's pretty close to what Rasmussen Reports saw last month in the tracking poll. At that time, 2% said Congress was doing an Excellent job, 13% said Good, and 49% said Poor.

Women are more lenient; only 39% say congressional performance is Poor, versus 56% of men. Republicans are twice as harsh as Democrats; 61% of GOP voters say Poor, versus 29% of Democrats.

The current figures are just about the same as those on Election Day 2006. At that time, just before the Democrats won control of the legislature, 2% of all likely voters rated congressional performance as Excellent, 33% said Fair, 50% said Poor. Between Election Day and the end of the year, while Republicans were still in control, perceptions of Congress declined even further. They rebounded after the Democrats grabbed the baton in early 2007 and then began to slump again in early summer as the nation watched congressional leaders try to impose an unpopular immigration bill.

Despite the ups and downs, though, during the past year no more than 26% at most (in mid-May of this year) were ever willing to rate congressional performance Good or Excellent (see history).

However, while unimpressed with Congress, voters continue to trust Democrats more than Republicans on nine of ten issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. Democrats also continue to enjoy a solid advantage on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Sixty-one percent (61%) now say that Congress has not passed any legislation over the last year that will improve our lives. Just 15% say it has.

Just 7% think Congress is Very Likely to seriously address the nations problems in the year ahead. A plurality of 42% say it's Not Very Likely to do so, 20% say Not At All Likely.

Most voters (73%) see congressmen as primarily self-serving, putting their careers ahead of service to constituents.

The Supreme Court has a better reputation than the Congress. Fully 40% of likely voters are willing to call its performance Excellent (12%) or Good (28%), a moderate increase since our September survey.

See survey questions and top-line results. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.