Google lets you review members of Congress, and the appraisals are brutal

Savanna Herrera was not pleased with Sen. Mitt Romney’s phone system.

She said she kept calling his office and pushed the “5” button like the voice advised but couldn’t reach a person. Then she figured she’d push the 3 button. Still didn’t work.

So, Ms. Herrera did what any other unsatisfied customer might do in the internet age: She went online and left a 1-star review of Mr. Romney, Utah Republican, on Google Maps.

Mark Eckhardt was just as dismayed by his experiences with Rep. Cori Bush’s district office in Missouri.

“No one ever works there, or answers the phone. I have driven by their office 5 times total and only once did one of their staff members slink out of the depths of that ‘office’ to greet me at the locked door, after knocking for 5 minutes. Absolutely embarrassing to the entire city of St. Louis,” he wrote in his Google Maps review of the Democratic lawmaker.

Take the average American voter, combine that with an Amazon product review-style forum where five stars max means the best, and you get Google’s reviews of the members of Congress.

Some are useful, some are rants and some are pretty funny.

One user left a play-by-play of her struggles to navigate Mr. Romney’s voicemail: “I have called so many times pushed 5 and could not get ahold of anyone THEN I thought maybe if I push 3 I could get ahold of someone but even then I could not get ahold of anyone!”

“Okay, Kinda,” summed up “Ferret Man,” as he left a 3-star review for another member of Congress.

“Yo this dude suckkkkkkks!” said a reviewer for a senator’s office.

Then there was “DH,” who left a facetious review of the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Google’s page for the Senate Press Gallery, the space for reporters who cover the upper chamber.

“Was here the other day on a random day, it was super busy, I stood in line to get in. Suddenly people started crowding and shouting. This made the atmosphere a bit grim. The local police officers tried with all their might to calm things down a bit. All in all, I saw a lot that day. There was even a shaman who from behind did not know he existed from the front,” DH wrote in a review in Dutch, which Google translated into English.

High-profile pols, unsurprisingly, draw the most activity.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, has drawn 32 reviews with an average rating of 3.5.

“Office doesn’t return phone calls. The most unqualified politicians this country has seen. Low IQ individual using her office to gain personal wealth,” said one disgruntled poster.

But another described the congresswoman as an “incredible woman, and an example for my daughters.”

“I admire her strength and resolve even in the face of racism that is so evident in so many of her critics,” that poster said.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, left user “Max Aronow” fuming eight years later.

“Remember what you did to Bernie in 2016? I’ll never forget. I will tell my children and my children’s children that you, specifically, are one of the worst politicians to ever have a direct impact on this country,” Max wrote.

Google said the reviews are user-generated.

“Business owners and members of the Maps community can create and update business profiles to help others find helpful information about places,” a spokesperson told The Washington Times.

Google says it wants the reviews of office interactions, not so much the political tirades.

“Only post content that is based on your experience or questions about experiences at a specific location. We don’t allow content which contains general, political or social commentary or personal rants,” Google admonishes in its rules for Google Maps users.

The user-generated aspect creates other problems.

Disgraced former Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat who resigned earlier this year after being convicted of public corruption charges, still has reviews, earning 2.2 stars.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned in November amid an ethics investigation and a short-lived nomination to become attorney general, maintains a 3.8 rating though the reviews are all several years old and don’t touch on the allegations against him.

Some dead members of Congress are also still listed.

And some — like Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican — had their names misspelled by whichever user added them.

Google says it will correct the typos and will try to cull the profiles of deceased lawmakers.

“When we become aware of contributions that are inaccurate or violate our policies, we work to remove them,” the spokeswoman said.

The randomness of the reviews can be charming.

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, earned a 4-star rating from someone named Adam, who was largely pleased with the staff’s handling of his office visit but still found fault with the setting.

“Tom’s office was well kempt[sic] but ultimately a little too small for my liking so I’ll have to take off a star,” he said in his Google review.

For Steven Taylor, the office wasn’t the issue so much as the occupant he wanted to complain about: former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he declared in his Google review to be “worth the dirt on my shoes.”

“You have successfully destroyed the very country for your own selfish greed. Just a vile human being,” he wrote of the California Democrat.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who leads Democrats in the House, has lots of fans, as his 4.5 rating for his New York City office suggests.

A number of commenters thanked staff by name for their assistance.

“I always find a sympathetic, attentive and concise attitude to all cases,” said one 5-star reviewer.