Congressional Priorities

Is Congress working on what Americans actually care about?

Overall Alignment
15
/ 100
Significantly misaligned
Democrat
13
/ 100
Near average
Republican
16
/ 100
Near average

Based on polls from Apr 2, 2026 to Jun 1, 2026. Last computed Jun 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 Security 1.1% 17.1% -16.0% Significantly Over-addressed
War 1.8% 17.1% -15.3% Significantly Over-addressed
National Debt/Deficit 15.8% 1.8% +13.9% Significantly Under-addressed
Unifying the country 1.1% 14.1% -13.0% Significantly Over-addressed
Social Issues 13.8% 3.3% +10.5% Significantly Under-addressed
International Issues 0.3% 11.4% -11.1% Significantly Over-addressed
Foreign Policy 0.3% 11.4% -11.1% Significantly Over-addressed
Ethics/Moral Decline 0.8% 9.0% -8.2% Over-addressed
Inflation/Cost of Living 10.2% 1.8% +8.4% Under-addressed
Social Security/Medicare 1.4% 10.2% -8.8% Over-addressed
Crime/Violence 0.7% 6.9% -6.2% Over-addressed
Judicial System 0.8% 7.7% -6.9% Over-addressed
Poverty/Homelessness 7.7% 1.0% +6.8% Under-addressed
Government/Leadership 8.6% 14.1% -5.6% Over-addressed
Economy 3.6% 9.6% -6.0% Over-addressed
Environment/Climate 0.4% 4.3% -3.9% Over-addressed
Jobs/Unemployment 6.2% 1.7% +4.6% Under-addressed
Drugs 14.1% 16.6% -2.5% Aligned
Education 0.6% 3.0% -2.5% Aligned
The Media 0.3% 2.8% -2.5% Aligned
Technology 0.3% 2.8% -2.5% Aligned
Healthcare 6.9% 9.7% -2.8% Aligned
Immigration 2.4% 1.8% +0.5% Aligned
Race Relations 0.7% 1.3% -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.