Politics | Congress Congress' New Approval Rating Low: 9% Just when you thought 11% rating couldn't go lower... By Matt Cantor Posted Oct 26, 2011 8:14 AM CDT Updated Oct 29, 2011 7:00 PM CDT Copied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., whispers to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, during a photo opportunity in the House Speaker's office. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg) Congress’ approval ratings have sunk to their lowest since CBS and the New York Times started keeping track in 1977: Just 9% of Americans now approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 11% last month. Only a tenth of Americans trust the government to make generally sound decisions, compared to 23% last year. And the anger is spread across party lines. Some 84% overall disapprove of the job Congress is doing; that breaks down into 83% of Republicans, 83% of Democrats, and 85% of independents. As for President Obama, his approval rating remains less than 50%, though at 46% it has climbed two percentage points from September. The same figure, 46%, disapprove of Obama’s work as president. Perhaps his Leno appearance will change some minds. Read These Next Salesforce CEO's ICE joke leaves employees fuming. He evaded arrest for 16 years, but his luck ran out at the Olympics. She lost to her victim in court, then beat her on the Olympic slopes. New details revealed about suspect in Nancy Guthrie abduction. Report an error