Pollsess pulls poorly poorly and this trend is bipartisan. Democrats and republicans, most assignment a failing grade. Over the past decade, congress has not once approved in Approval Rating over 30 . Congresss 990s, Approval Ratings were in the 40s and the 50s. Today, they are in the teens and 20s. Once thought to be the great repository of americas republican principles, it is now a broken branch. Why has Congress Come to this point . Martha causes . Has anything changed since trumps election and the democratic takeover of the house . Can this state of affairs be changed . To answer this question, we have assembled a distinguished panel of experts on congress with a variety of perspectives and i will introduce them quickly in alphabetical order. I will introduce them all so we can launch into their remarks. Our first speaker is catherine pearson, associate professor of Political Science at the university of minnesota. She worked for several years as an assistant to several members of