Approval of the Congress began to drop in mid-2021 and has continued downward since then.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Real Clear Pol. 2/1/22 | 21% | 67.2% |
| Real Clear Pol. 12/21/21 | 23% | 65.8% |
| Real Clear Pol. 11/30/21 | 22.2% | 68.6% |
| Real Clear Pol. 10/12/21 | 25.0% | 65.8% |
| Real Clear Pol. 9/1/21 | 28.5% | 60.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 8/3/21 | 31.4% | 59.6% |
| Real Clear Pol. 6/15/21 | 28.8% | 60.5% |
| Real Clear Pol. 5/18/21 | 35.0% | 56.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 5/4/21 | 36.3% | 55.5% |
| Real Clear Pol. 4/6/21 | 34.3% | 57.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 3/2/21 | 29.7% | 60.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 2/22/21 | 26.3% | 60.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 1/5/21 | 18.7% | 70.3% |
The last time a unified government did not lose majorities in the House and/or the Senate in midterm elections was 1978; and Democrats still lost 15 House and 3 Senate seats. [Amy Walter – Cook Political Report/Walter Editor in Chief]
The House of Representatives
Washington Watch uses the Cook Political Report for its report on elections in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Currently:
- Democrats – 221 seats
- Republicans – 211 seats
- Vacancies – 3 seats
As of February 17, there are currently 44 seats in which incumbents have announced they are not running for re-election because they are either running for another office or retiring. 14 of those seats are currently held by Republicans and 30 by Democrats.
Four Republican members of the House and five Democratic members of the House are running for the U.S. Senate.
The Senate
[WW uses Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections for the Senate chart below. When those two organizations do not agree, WW uses Sabato as a tie breaker.]
- Republicans – 50
- Democrats – 48
- Independents – 2
| Democrats | Republicans | Independent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats not up in 2022 | 34 | 30 | 2 |
| Safe in 2022 | 10 | 16 | |
| Padilla | Murkowski | ||
| Bennett | AL – open | ||
| Blumenthal | Boozman | ||
| Schatz | Grassley | ||
| Duckworth | Crapo | ||
| Van Hollen | Young | ||
| Schumer | Moran | ||
| Wyden | Paul | ||
| Open (Leahy) | Kennedy | ||
| Murray | MO – open | ||
| OH – open | |||
| Hoeven | |||
| Lankford | |||
| Scott | |||
| Thune | |||
| Lee | |||
| Likely | 0 | 1 | |
| Rubio | |||
| Lean | 1 | 2 | |
| Hasan | NC – open | ||
| Johnson | |||
| Toss Up | 3 | 1 | |
| Masto | PA – open | ||
| Warnock | |||
| Kelly |