Confidence in Congress hits historic low

Confidence in Congress has reached an historic low, with only 7 percent of people saying they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the institution. 

A Gallup survey released Thursday found the public has the least confidence of Congress out of of 17 institutions, and by a big margin.

Congress scored more than 10 points lower than television news (18 percent) and Internet news (19 percent), which also ranked at the bottom.

The 7 percent rating is the lowest rating for any institution Gallup has recorded in the last 40 years. That is down from the previous low of 10 percent last year. Congress’s high point came in 1973, when 42 percent expressed a great deal of confidence in the institution. 

In the new poll, 36 percent expressed some confidence in Congress, while 50 percent had very little confidence. 

The military, with 74 percent confidence, rated first on the list, followed by small business, police and the church. 

Thirty percent expressed a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, while 29 percent said the same of the presidency. 

Big business and organized labor both had a 22 percent confidence rating. 

The survey polled 1,027 people from June 5-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.