Biden approval rating hits highest point since June in new poll

The latest edition of the Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll shows President Joe Biden’s approval at its highest levels since the beginning of June, with 41 per cent of Americans approving of his job performance as president.

Mr Biden’s approval rating according to the two-day survey of 1,005 adults on Monday and Tuesday is a full five points higher than the 36 per cent who approved of his work throughout May, June and July. That result was just three points above the 33 per cent approval reached by Donald Trump in December 2017.

The upswing in Mr Biden’s poll numbers comes after a productive stretch for the president and the Democratic-led Congress which saw passage of a landmark health care, climate and tax reform bill, a set of new programs to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during military service, and legislation to jump-start American semiconductor manufacturing to better compete with China.

The boost in approval for Mr Biden also comes amid rising hopes that Democrats will buck history by maintaining control of one or both chambers of Congress when voters go to polls for the November midterm elections.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has said his party only has a coin-flip’s chance of regaining control of the evenly-split upper chamber, though House Republicans have a much greater chance of seizing the reins of power there due to redrawn legislative districts that heavily favour their party.