Story Highlights
- Solid majority of Americans, 56%, approve of job Biden is doing as president
- Congress' approval slips five points to 26%, lowest since January
- Congressional decline due to plunge in Democrats' approval
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fifty-six percent of Americans approve of the job President Joe Biden is doing overall, essentially unchanged from 54% in May. Biden's approval rating has averaged 56% since he took office, with his monthly approval ratings straying no more than two percentage points from that level.
Line graph. Monthly trend from January to June 2021 in President Joe Biden's job approval rating. His job approval has been stable, ranging from 54% to 57%, including 56% in June. The percentage disapproving was 37% in January but has since ranged from 40% to 42%, including 42% in June.
The June 1-18 poll was partially conducted while Biden met with world leaders in Europe on his first foreign trip as president, from June 9-16.
According to the poll, Biden enjoys nearly universal approval from Democrats (95%) as well as from a solid majority of independents (55%), versus 11% of Republicans. His rating also features a significant gender gap, with 65% of women versus 47% of men approving. That gap is similar to the gender pattern in Biden's ratings all year and is the reverse of the gender gap under President Donald Trump, who earned higher support from men than women.
The racial gap in Biden's ratings is even wider than the gender gap, with 74% of non-White Americans versus 48% of White Americans approving. At the same time, Biden receives approval from majorities of all major age and household income groups.
| Approve | Disapprove | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| U.S. adults | 56 | 42 | 2 |
| Party ID | |||
| Republicans | 11 | 89 | 1 |
| Independents | 55 | 42 | 3 |
| Democrats | 95 | 4 | 1 |
| Gender | |||
| Men | 47 | 50 | 3 |
| Women | 65 | 33 | 2 |
| Age | |||
| 18 to 34 | 60 | 37 | 2 |
| 35 to 54 | 56 | 40 | 4 |
| 55 and older | 54 | 45 | 1 |
| Household income | |||
| $100,000+ | 56 | 43 | 1 |
| $40,000 to $99,999 | 52 | 45 | 3 |
| Less than $40,000 | 64 | 34 | 2 |
| Race | |||
| White Americans | 48 | 51 | 1 |
| Non-White Americans | 74 | 23 | 4 |
| Gallup, June 1-18, 2021 | |||
Congressional Honeymoon Ends as Democrats Turn Negative
While Americans' support for Biden is holding firm, their approval of Congress slipped to 26% this month, from 31% in May. It is now 10 points below this year's high of 36% recorded in March, around the time Congress passed the largely popular CARES Act, which provided $1.9 trillion in new COVID-19 economic relief.
Line graph. Monthly trend from January to June 2021 in job approval of Congress. Approval rose from 25% in January to 35% in February and 36% in March. It has since declined and is 26% in June.
The mechanics of the recent decline in congressional approval are clear, as support fell sharply among Democrats, to 38%, down from 54% last month.
Democrats' approval of the job Congress is doing had doubled between January and February, as their party effectively took full control in Washington, D.C., following Democratic victories in two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia, and after Biden was sworn in as president. Approval from political independents was also slightly elevated at that time.
However, after remaining fairly high from March through May, Democrats' support for Congress has plunged between May and June after Congress failed to pass an infrastructure package, which had been Biden's legislative priority this spring.
Line graph. Monthly trend in Congress' job approval rating by party identification, from January to June 2021. Democrats' approval was 30% in January but rose to 61% in February and stayed above 50% through May, before falling to 38% in June. Independents' approval has been steadier, ranging from 26% to 35%. Republicans' approval fell from 17% in January to 8% in February and has since remained at or close to the single-digit level.
The abrupt shift in Democrats' views of the Democratic-controlled Congress echoes what occurred with Republicans in 2017 after the then-Republican-led Congress failed to make good on Trump's directive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. After rising from 20% in January of that year to 50% in February, Republicans' approval of Congress sank to 28% by May and 16% by August, spanning several unsuccessful attempts to pass a repeal bill.
Bottom Line
A majority of Americans continue to be pleased with the job Biden is doing as he wraps up his fifth month in office, with little month-to-month variation in his ratings.
The same cannot be said of Congress, which, after seeing a boost in its ratings in February, is back to the lower level recorded in January. This is likely due to Congress' prominent failure to pass an infrastructure bill last month. Democratic leaders are continuing to negotiate with conservative members of their own caucus, as well as some Republicans, on a scaled-down version of Biden's original proposal. As Gallup's monthly tracking of congressional approval revealed four years ago, Americans pay attention to what Congress is doing and let it be known when their own party's leaders fail to produce desired results.
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