The coronavirus has shown people that big government can't solve all their problems

When asked in the abstract, voters generally tell pollsters they want the government to do more to solve the problems in their lives. Yet new data show that the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent botched response at all levels of government may be starting to relieve people of their naive belief that more government “help” is a good idea.

According to a new Gallup poll, Congress’s already-low approval ratings have done a nosedive in the last few months. At 22% in March, when the coronavirus outbreak began, approval ratings had briefly ticked up after Congress passed a $2 trillion relief bill. But now, the legislative branch has fallen to just 18% approval.