Congressional Priorities

Is Congress working on what Americans actually care about?

Overall Alignment
17
/ 100
Significantly misaligned
Democrat
16
/ 100
Near average
Republican
18
/ 100
Near average

Based on polls from Apr 2, 2026 to Aug 1, 2026. Last computed Aug 1, 2026.

Priority Gap: What the Public Wants vs. What Congress Does

Positive gap = public cares more than Congress legislates (under-addressed). Negative gap = Congress legislates more than public demands (over-addressed).

Issue-by-Issue Breakdown
Issue Public Congress Gap Status
National Debt/Deficit 15.8% 1.2% +14.6% Significantly Under-addressed
War 1.8% 15.7% -13.9% Significantly Over-addressed
National Security 1.1% 15.7% -14.6% Significantly Over-addressed
Unifying the country 1.1% 13.0% -11.9% Significantly Over-addressed
Social Security/Medicare 1.4% 11.7% -10.3% Significantly Over-addressed
Ethics/Moral Decline 0.8% 9.1% -8.3% Over-addressed
International Issues 0.3% 9.2% -9.0% Over-addressed
Foreign Policy 0.3% 9.2% -9.0% Over-addressed
Inflation/Cost of Living 10.2% 1.2% +9.1% Under-addressed
Social Issues 13.8% 4.0% +9.8% Under-addressed
Judicial System 0.8% 8.3% -7.4% Over-addressed
Poverty/Homelessness 7.7% 1.9% +5.9% Under-addressed
Crime/Violence 0.7% 6.7% -6.0% Over-addressed
Environment/Climate 0.4% 4.6% -4.2% Over-addressed
Government/Leadership 8.6% 13.0% -4.5% Over-addressed
Economy 3.6% 8.8% -5.2% Over-addressed
Drugs 14.1% 17.6% -3.5% Over-addressed
Jobs/Unemployment 6.2% 2.1% +4.2% Under-addressed
Healthcare 6.9% 11.0% -4.1% Over-addressed
Education 0.6% 3.6% -3.0% Over-addressed
The Media 0.3% 3.3% -3.0% Aligned
Technology 0.3% 3.3% -3.0% Aligned
Race Relations 0.7% 1.2% -0.5% Aligned
Immigration 2.4% 3.0% -0.6% Aligned
Children’s Needs 0.3% 0.0% +0.3% Aligned
Methodology

Public priorities are averaged across verified polls and normalized to 100% (since poll respondents name multiple issues). Legislative activity is weighted by bill progress (introduced = 1, enacted = 10). The alignment score measures how closely Congress's effort distribution matches the relative importance the public assigns to each issue.

This is directional analysis, not a scientific study. See the full methodology for details on status weights, topic mappings, and limitations.