RNC chief: Congress’s approval rating would skyrocket if Pelosi quit

The chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) on Tuesday said Congress’s approval rating would jump 20 points if House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) resigned.

“If Nancy Pelosi would resign, the approval rating would skyrocket by 20 points — she’s the most unpopular member of Congress,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in an interview with Fox News. 

Priebus blamed Democratic leaders Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for Congress’s record-low approval ratings, arguing the decline took place while Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

{mosads}”Here’s the deal,” Priebus said. “Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ran the Congress and the Senate for two out of the three years Barack Obama has been president. … So all of the whining and complaining, they should just look in the mirror, and they can find the culprits.”

Priebus was responding to comments Pelosi made Monday night on the “Charlie Rose Show,” in which the former Speaker blamed Republican obstruction of Obama’s agenda for Congress’s low popularity.

“I don’t approve of the Congress, so count me among them,” Pelosi said when asked about the poll numbers.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said it’s Republicans causing the low congressional approval ratings.

“The Chairman appears to be deeply confused,” Hammill said in a statement. “The Republican majority has voted three times to end the Medicare guarantee, created one manufactured crises after another and focused solely on giving the wealthiest special interests more and more tax breaks. The Republican leadership need look only in the mirror when it comes to Congressional approval ratings.”

According to the Real Clear Politics poll average, just over 10 percent of Americans have a positive view of Congress, while around 80 percent disapprove of the job Congress is doing. 

Some polls show the number of Americans who disapprove of Congress to be as high as 91 percent, but the dissatisfaction is spread evenly across the political spectrum.

Just 29 percent of Republicans rated their member of Congress positively, and Democrats fared similarly with only 27 percent receiving positive marks.

The approval rating of Congress has stayed relatively stable since Republicans took control of the House last year.

— This post was updated at 1:37 p.m.