Iran ceasefire remains uncertain as Congress approval falls to record low

Americans are staring at two signs of drift at once: a war with Iran that still has no clear off-ramp, and a Congress that has sunk to its lowest approval rating in years. Gallup said just 10% of adults approved of Congress, while 86% disapproved, tying the record high for congressional disapproval and underscoring how little confidence voters have in Washington as a major foreign-policy crisis hangs unresolved.

The uncertainty around Iran has only sharpened that mood. CBS News reported that the ceasefire-war situation was unclear as a deadline approached, even after the United States fully implemented a blockade of Iranian ports along the Strait of Hormuz. Adm. Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command said the blockade "has been fully implemented" as Pakistan worked to arrange a second round of U.S.-Iran peace talks after marathon negotiations in Islamabad ended without an agreement.

Vice President JD Vance said no agreement had been reached after discussions with Iranian and Pakistani negotiators. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said the United States had failed to win Tehran’s trust, and Iranian state media said Tehran did not plan to take part in a new round of talks. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, was again voicing optimism about a possible deal to end the war, but the latest round of diplomacy still left the timeline uncertain and the military pressure in place.

The public’s judgment on Congress suggests that voters do not believe the institution is built to manage crises like this one. Gallup said congressional approval had been 13% in October 2023, then the lowest since 2017, before rebounding to 20% in 2024 and 29% in February 2025. That recovery has now vanished. Disapproval at 86% matched the previous record high, leaving Congress even more alienated from the public as Washington faces pressure on Iran, the Middle East, and the economy at the same time.

The political weakness is showing up in the calendar, too. The Associated Press said 58 House members had announced retirement as of April 22, 2026, meaning more than one in eight incumbents planned to leave. AP described that as the highest percentage at that point in the election cycle since at least the Obama era, a sign of how unsettled the 2026 midterm landscape already is. With lawmakers heading for the exits and trust at a historic low, the country’s two most visible signs of instability, Congress at home and Iran abroad, are feeding each other.