Poll: Americans want Congress to cooperate with Biden, view his agenda positively

As President Joe Biden begins his term in office and Congress convenes for another round of negotiations for a COVID stimulus package, most Americans say they want to see bipartisanship in Washington, according to a recent Monmouth University poll.

Americans are strongly interested in seeing cooperation between Republicans and Democrats. Sixty-two percent want the parties to cooperate with each other, suggesting a rising appetite for productive deliberation between factions.

Notably, 71% of Americans would prefer Republicans in Congress find ways to work with Biden, compared to the 25% of Americans who would rather they serve as a check on the president's agenda.

Biden continues to enjoy favorable ratings a week after he assumed office. Fifty-four percent of Americans approve of the job he's doing early in his tenure, a higher favorable rating than former President Donald Trump ever enjoyed in office.

Sixty-five percent also hold a positive view of the early policies Biden has enacted compared with 35% of Americans who hold a pessimistic view of the administration's first moves.

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The poll also found broad optimism about the impacts of Biden's agenda on the middle class. Sixty-eight percent believe Biden's policies will help the middle class, a higher proportion of the population than the 61% who said the same of Trump at the start of his term, and the 55% who shared the feeling for the start of former President Barack Obama's second term.

Americans' views remain highly polarized, however.

Republicans disapprove of Congress and Biden at much higher rates than Democrats and independents. That said, 41% of Republicans and 70% of independents expressed a desire for Congress to cooperate with Biden; 94% of Democrats expressed the same sentiment.

The findings show a rise from just after the election when only 28% of Republicans expressed an interest in bipartisanship.

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The top issue on people's minds remains the coronavirus pandemic, followed by concerns over domestic terrorism and hate groups, jobs and unemployment, health care and education.

The Monmouth poll was conducted Jan. 21 and Jan. 24, contacting 809 adults by telephone. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Monmouth Poll: Americans want Congress to cooperate with Joe Biden