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The honeymoon may not be over per se, but Americans’ feelings toward the 46th president have tempered some as the administration traverses the rocky partisan shoals of its second 100 days.
(CN) — A new poll finds President Joe Biden’s job approval has taken a hit in recent months even as he pushes a spending agenda that remains largely popular with most Americans.
The poll, released Wednesday by Monmouth University, reports fewer Americans say they are satisfied with the job Biden is doing. While the president enjoyed a 54% approval rating in April, that number dropped to just 48% now.
The dip comes as support from members of his own party and political moderates has cooled. The poll found that 86% of Democrats and 36% of independents continue to back the president, but those numbers are down nearly 10 points apiece from April.
Republicans are the only group to increase their support for Biden: 19% say they approve of the job he’s doing, up from 11% who said they supported him in April.
Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the dips in support come as more Americans fear his spending aspirations won’t become a reality.
“Biden’s rating is still in net positive territory, but it seems to have taken a dip with the growing uncertainty that his signature spending plans will be enacted,” Murray said with the release of the poll.
Though support for the president may have waned in recent months, support for his spending plans have not. Just over 60% of Americans say they approve of the Covid-19 stimulus package the president signed early in his administration as well as his proposed health care expansion bill. And nearly 70% say they approve of his trillion-dollar proposed infrastructure package.
A good chunk of Americans also don’t really care whether the proposed spending bills pass with bipartisan support. Just under half of Americans say the bills should be passed in their current forms, even if that means they pass without GOP votes in Congress. Another 22% say the plans should be tweaked to be more appealing to both parties, while 24% say the plans shouldn’t see the light of day at all.
The plans remain popular even as many Americans voice concerns that the plans may cause a spike in inflation. Nearly half say they are very worried about this possibility, while around a quarter say they are only a little worried.
“Concerns about possible inflation do not appear to undercut overall public support for these spending plans,” Murray said. “That might be because many Americans expect the pros will outweigh the cons.”
One element of Biden’s policies that are not as widely praised are his contributions to the middle class. The poll found that just 19% of Americans believe that middle-class families have greatly benefited from Biden’s policies while around a third say they’ve at least benefited a little. Another 36% say they haven’t been helped at all, numbers that fall largely in line with those reported throughout most of former President Donald Trump’s term.
When it comes to dips in support, Biden is not alone. Just 21% of Americans say they approve of the job Congress is doing, down from the 35% who approved in April.
Americans have also grown more pessimistic regarding the overall direction of the country. While 46% of Americans say they believed the country was headed in the right direction in April, just 37% say the same today.
Wednesday’s poll of 810 adults contained a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
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