President Joe Biden’s approval rating hit a new low in an NBC News poll released Sunday.
The poll found Biden’s approval falling to 40%, with a 55% disapproval rating.
Despite a packed March that included his first State of the Union address, a historically popular first Supreme Court nominee and the continued U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a majority of Americans don’t approve of Biden’s handling of a range of issues.
The cost of living, jobs and the economy were rated as the most important issues by poll respondents, and Americans don’t think Biden’s doing a good job in the area. The poll found 63% disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy.
On foreign policy, 51% disapprove, but Biden is seeing improvement. His approval on foreign policy has grown from 37% in January 2022 to 42% today. On the war between Russia and Ukraine, 52% disapprove.
Biden touched on the economy and foreign policy during a press conference Monday, unveiling his 2023 budget. The budget includes cuts to the deficit, increased funding for federal law enforcement, taxes on the super-rich and corporations and no federal tax increases for those making less than $400,000 a year, Biden said.
Biden was asked about his comment over the weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. Biden said he was expressing his outrage and wasn’t worried there would be fallout from his remarks.
“People like this shouldn’t be ruling countries, but they do,” Biden said. “The fact they do doesn’t mean I can’t express my outrage about it.”
One issue where a majority of Americans think Biden is doing a good job is the COVID-19 pandemic. The poll found 51% approve of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus, the highest approval on the issue since October 2021 in NBC News’ polling.
Republicans are expected to take back Congress, and polling shows they now have the advantage. The poll found 46% want Republicans to control Congress after this year’s November elections, while 44% say Democrats and 10% are not sure.