President Joe Biden’s approval rating has dropped as efforts to pass his multitrillion-dollar spending plans have stalled in Congress.
Biden holds a 48 percent approval rating and a 43 percent disapproval rating, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll.
This is down from his 54 percent approval and 41 percent disapproval rating in April.
When separated by political party, the president has an approval rating of 86 percent among Democrats, 36 percent among independents and 19 percent among Republicans.
“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,” Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray said in a statement.
Despite their big price tags, Biden’s spending plans remain popular with a majority of the American public, according to the poll.
These plans include the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus plan, his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal and his $1.8 trillion “American Families Plan” plan to expand access to health care, college, paid leave and other services.
Biden’s infrastructure proposal has been in negotiations over the past month, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The proposal would dedicate $110 billion to bridges and roads, $65 billion to expand access to broadband and $8.5 billion to public transit, according to the report.
The package has 68 percent support from Monmouth’s poll respondents.
However, only 46 percent think the proposed plans should be passed without changes even if they do not receive bipartisan support.
“The plans are broadly popular, but the path to getting there is not so clear-cut,” Murray said.
“This is one of those situations where the administration has to weigh short-term blowback in public opinion against what they hope will be long-term gains.”
Critics of the spending plans worry they will lead to spiraling inflation, and nearly 47 percent of poll respondents are very concerned about the possibility.
“Concerns about possible inflation do not appear to undercut overall public support for these spending plans. That might be because many Americans expect the pros will outweigh the cons,” Murray said.
“Right now, Biden is not quite meeting the public’s expectations for helping the middle class,” he said. “His calculation may be that the country is willing to accept some price increases in return for a more robust economy and wider array of support programs.”
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted June 9-14 among 810 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Biden’s Real Clear Politics polling average was 52.3 percent approval and 43.7 percent disapproval on Friday.
