Americans support congressional rules reform

Members should too

Protect Democracy United commissioned a national survey from Blue Rose Research to understand voters’ opinions on Congress and on a set of proposals to change how the House operates. The key takeaways: voters of both parties are deeply frustrated with Congress, back reforms that provide more opportunities for legislating, and support members who champion reform.

* Blue Rose Research, online, weighted to 2024 voters: 4,905 respondents for polling questions, August 2–10, 2026 (±2.6pp); 2,634 for framing comparisons and 8,602 for message tests, August 5–10. 

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Voters Know Congress is Broken

Large bipartisan majorities identify “very big problems” with the way Congress operates.

68%

70%

see the two parties treating each other as enemies as a very big problem.

say the same of Congress failing to act on important issues.

67%

think similarly of members caring more about attention than results.

Frustration with Congress extends to the legislative process itself. 

Over half of voters identify very big problems with the way Congress approaches policymaking, including:

• Passing massive spending bills at the last minute, with little or no time to debate (59%);

• Relying on the threat of a government shutdown to force spending bills through (56%); and

• Rules that keep most bills — even popular ones — from ever coming up for a vote (55%).