Growing dissatisfaction with House Speaker Paul Ryan per new Wall St. Journal-NBC News poll. 40% view him negatively, 22% positively. This 18-point gap was only 1 point in February. "Republicans have stood by President Trump more than they have Mr. Ryan"-Wall St. Journal, 4/24/17

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Poll dates: April 17-20, 2017. Poll of 900 adults nationwide via telephone. 3.27 error margin

"Republicans have stood by President Donald Trump more than they have Mr. Ryan."

4/24/17, "Americans’ Dissatisfaction With Speaker Paul Ryan, Congress Overall Is Growing, Poll Finds," Wall St. Journal, Rebecca Ballhaus

"Americans hold dim views of Congress and of House Speaker Paul Ryan, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds, with favorable opinions declining since February.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans disapprove of Congress’s job performance, up 12 percentage points since February, the poll found. Just one-fifth said they approve of the job Congress is doing, a drop of 9 points.

The findings mark a return to recent norms in views of Congress, after a slight uptick in approval of lawmakers in February. With 20% approving of Congress, its rating is still slightly higher than in most months since May 2011.

Mr. Ryan (R., Wis.) is one focus of growing dissatisfaction, with 40% saying they view the House speaker negatively, compared with 22% who had a positive view—an 18-point gap. In February, unfavorable opinions outweighed positive ones by just 1 point.

The negative reviews come after a period in which House Republicans tried and failed to pass legislation to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act—a core element of the Republican platform. Mr. Ryan, who became the face of the bill in Congress, was forced to cancel a vote on the legislation after concluding it didn’t have the necessary votes. Talks continue among House Republicans to revive the bill.

Mr. Ryan, long considered a rising star in the GOP, saw his ratings drop among Republicans polled. Positive views of the speaker outweighed negative views in the latest survey by 23 points among Republicans—down from 49 points two months ago.

A shift among Republicans also helped account for the declining approval of Congress. In the new survey, 58% of Republicans polled disapproved of the job lawmakers are doing, and 31% approved. In February, the share approving and disapproving had been about even.

Republicans have stood by President Donald Trump more than they have Mr. Ryan. While Mr. Trump’s job approval declined from February, views among his own party dropped only slightly. Some 39% of adults in the new survey saw Vice President Mike Pence in a negative light, with 38% saying they view him positively. In February, views of the vice president were a net positive, with 42% viewing him favorably and 35% holding a negative opinion.

The sharpest drop in support for Mr. Pence came among independents, who viewed the vice president more negatively than positively, by a margin of 14 points in the latest poll....

Despite dissatisfaction with the Republican-led Congress, Americans remained relatively split on which party should lead the legislative branch. Some 47% said they would prefer the next election to produce a Democratic-led Congress, while 43% said it should produce a Republican-led Congress....

The survey found that Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, is viewed favorably by the public, by a slight margin. Some 33% hold a positive view, and 31% an unfavorable view of Ms. Trump, who recently took an official role as assistant to the president. That is largely in line with a Journal/NBC News survey last August, which found 29% with a positive view and 24% with a negative one.

The Journal/NBC News poll was based on nationwide telephone interviews with 900 adults from April 17-20. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.27 percentage points, with larger margins of error for subgroups."



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