Americans do not have tremendous respect for the honesty and ethical standards of car salesmen or journalists, but they still give people in these professions a higher rating for these characteristics than they give to members of Congress.

This week, as first reported Tuesday by the New York Post, Gallup released the results of a survey it conducted on how Americans perceive the honesty and ethical standards of people in different professions. (Gallup first did this survey in 1976 and has done it annually since 1990.)

From Nov. 9 to Dec. 2, 2022, according to a release put out by the polling company, Gallup asked 1,020 American adults this question: “Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields — very high, high, average, low or very low?”

The survey then listed 18 different professions — ranging from bankers to lawyers to members of Congress.

Only 2% of the respondents gave members of Congress a “very high” rating for honesty and ethical standards, while another 7% gave them […]