President Joe Biden is remaining far ahead of where former President Trump was in office in public approval. In a new Hill-HarrisX survey, Biden has the approval of a whopping 61 percent of respondents, while just 39 percent said that they disapprove of the president’s job performance. Throughout his time in office, Trump never even hit 50 percent overall approval in a weighted average of relevant surveys maintained by FiveThirtyEight. Biden’s positive numbers suggest that Democrats could be set for success in the upcoming midterm elections.
The new Hill-HarrisX survey was conducted from May 31 to June 1. In a survey conducted a couple of weeks prior — from May 17 to 19 — by the same pollster, Biden had the approval of a full 60 percent of overall respondents, meaning that his high level of approval from the public seems pretty consistent. In the more recent survey, majorities of respondents said that they approved of Biden’s handling of key issues, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy. On those two issues, 68 percent and 57 percent of respondents, respectively, said that they approve of Biden’s work.
Going forward, Biden has prioritized the passage of an infrastructure spending plan that would include major investments in areas like repairs to roadways and expansions of rural internet coverage. Biden has also pushed a plan for the removal of all currently in use lead water pipes in the country. Because of Senate filibuster rules, most legislation — excluding a selection of budget-related bills — requires the support of 60 Senators in the 100-member chamber to even get a final vote at all, which poses a potential problem for the smooth passage of bills. Infrastructure spending could be one of the few proposals exempt from the Senate’s filibuster rules, but Democrats haven’t gone forward on infrastructure without Republicans yet.
Control of both chambers of Congress will be at stake in the midterm elections, with a couple of clear Senate seat pick-up opportunities for Democrats.
