A new Fox News national poll found congressional Republicans with a 38% approval rating among registered voters, outpacing congressional Democrats at 33% even as Republican approval has declined from a recent peak.
The survey, conducted Sept. 6–9, 2025, found 61% of respondents disapprove of congressional Republicans and 66% disapprove of congressional Democrats. Republican congressional approval fell five points from a six-month high of 43%, while Democratic congressional approval ticked up three points from a near-record low of 30% in March.
The shifts are driven largely by changes within each party’s base. Seventy-six percent of self-identified Republicans approved of the job congressional Republicans are doing, down from 88% in March. Among self-identified Democrats, 58% approved of congressional Democrats’ performance, up from 49% six months earlier.
The poll also measured public views of national figures and policy areas. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement both received 49% approval; President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. each received 46% approval. Trump’s highest marks were on border security (57%), crime and public safety (50%) and immigration (47%). Lower approval ratings were recorded for his handling of Ukraine (40%), the economy (39%), relations with Russia (36%), tariffs (36%) and the cost of living (32%). Overall, 46% of respondents approved of the job Trump is doing as president and 54% disapproved, unchanged since June.
Respondents expressed strong support for several specific policy proposals. Eighty-four percent favored requiring a valid form of photo identification to vote, and 75% supported banning members of Congress from trading stocks. Sixty-five percent favored banning cellphones in K–12 classrooms, and 63% supported allowing U.S. citizens to vote by mail. Opinions were closely divided on proposals such as banning purchases of candy and soft drinks with SNAP benefits (50% favor, 49% oppose) and whether to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government (46% favor removing DEI programs, 52% oppose). Significant majorities opposed allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice in schools (34% in favor, 64% opposed) and said flag burning should be illegal (31% legal, 67% illegal).
The survey showed cross-party agreement on several measures: majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents supported banning members of Congress from trading stocks, prohibiting cellphones in classrooms, opposing flag burning and requiring photo identification to vote. "Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Republicans and Democrats agree on several consequential issues," Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News surveys with Democrat Chris Anderson, said in the poll release.
The poll noted changes in views over time. The share saying flag burning should be legal has risen to 31%, up 10 points from two decades ago, with marked increases among Democrats, voters under 30 and independents. The survey was completed before the Aug. 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, the poll release said.
Conducted under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), the poll interviewed a sample of 1,004 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Interviews were conducted with live interviewers on landlines (119) and cellphones (638) and online after receiving a text (247). The reported margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus three percentage points; sampling error is larger for subgroups. The release noted that question wording and order can influence results and that weights were applied to age, race, education and area to ensure representativeness.