Congress Ignores What Voters on Both Sides Actually Want

SITUATION:

Cable news and social media feeds present Washington as two warring tribes locked in conflict over nearly everything. Democrats want one thing, Republicans want the opposite, and voters are expected to pick a side accordingly.

A series of national polls conducted between 2022 and 2026 asked Democratic and Republican voters, separately, whether they supported specific changes to how Congress operates. The list included banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks, requiring disclosure of dark money donors, and ending partisan gerrymandering, among other reforms.

On every one of the seven reforms tested, a majority of voters in both parties said yes, according to polling conducted since 2022. Here is how voter support for each reform compares with where Congress stands today.

• Dark money disclosure: 88% of Democratic voters and 85% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 90% of Democrats and 0% of Republicans are on record in favor.
• Overturning Citizens United: 84% of Democratic voters and 75% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 88% of Democrats and 0% of Republicans back it.
• Banning members of Congress from trading stocks: 88% of Democratic voters and 87% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 47% of Democrats and 16% of Republicans back it.
• Banning lobbying for foreign governments: 74% of Democratic voters and 71% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 1% of Democrats and 1% of Republicans back it.
• Extending the lobbying cool off period, the length of time a former lawmaker must wait before becoming a paid lobbyist: 67% of Democratic voters and 65% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 4% of Democrats and 0% of Republicans back it.
• Opening primaries to independent voters: 79% of Democratic voters and 65% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 70% of Democrats and 1% of Republicans back it.
• Ending partisan gerrymandering: 76% of Democratic voters and 57% of Republican voters support it. In Congress, 77% of Democrats and 0% of Republicans back it.

THE TRUTH:

Project Curia, a nonpartisan group that scores lawmakers against their own past positions, matched each of the seven polls to the actual bill text moving through the current Congress. That scoring is what produced the congressional numbers listed above.

A clear pattern emerges once the numbers are lined up. On five of the seven reforms, Republican lawmakers trail their own voters by a wider margin than Democratic lawmakers trail theirs. On dark money and gerrymandering, Republican support in Congress sits at zero percent despite majority backing from Republican voters.

That does not mean Democratic lawmakers come out clean. On the stock trading ban and on both lobbying reforms, Democrats in Congress fall just as short of their own voters, sometimes further than Republicans do.

Two reforms run the other way. On dark money disclosure and on overturning Citizens United, Democrats in Congress back the reform at a higher rate than Democratic voters themselves do. Those are the only two reforms, out of seven, where any party’s lawmakers exceed their own voters.

Overall, five of the seven reforms show wider Republican gaps. On the other two, only Democratic lawmakers cross the line their own voters drew.

WHY IT MATTERS:

The core problem here is not Republicans against Democrats. Voters in both parties want the same reforms, and have for years. Lawmakers in both parties are failing to deliver most of them.

The data does not split the blame evenly, though. On five of the seven reforms measured here, Republican lawmakers are further from their own voters than Democratic lawmakers are from theirs, and on two of those, Republican support in Congress sits at zero percent.

None of this depends on which party a reader trusts more. The same seven questions were asked of both parties’ voters, and scored the same way against both parties’ lawmakers.

SOURCES:

• University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation, national voter polling on congressional reforms (2022-2026)
• Verasight / Brennan Center for Justice, voter polling on campaign finance and redistricting reform
• Emerson College Polling / RealClearPolitics / Unite America, voter polling on open primaries and related reforms
• Noble Predictive Insights / Common Cause, voter polling on lobbying and stock trading reforms
• Project Curia, scoring of all 535 members of the 119th Congress against bills carrying each reform, including discharge petitions