Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters nationwide now approve of the way President Biden is performing his job. That’s up two points since late September but down a point from mid-September. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 48% disapprove and 5% are not sure.
While the president’s numbers have stabilized, opinions are stronger on the negative side. Just 22% of voters Strongly Approve of the president’s performance, down seven points from a week ago and the lowest level yet measured. Thirty-five percent (35%)Strongly Disapprove. 
The president’s approval ratings are underwater on five key issues facing the nation– Immigration (-18), Taxes and Government Spending (-13), the Economy (-5), National Security (-4), and Healthcare (-1). The president received a net positive approval rating only on his handling of COVID (+8).
It is perhaps not surprising that the president receives such negative marks on taxes and government spending as his budget plan is being debated in Congress.
The plan includes some popular provisions but many other that are problematic for voters.
- The Administration has proposed vastly expanding the level of personal banking information reported to the IRS. However, 72% of voters think the IRS already collects too much personal information that should remain private. Rather than giving the IRS more access, these voters believe that more privacy protections are needed.
- The initial plan for giving the IRS access to more banking information was opposed by 73% of voters.
- To receive federal benefits, 78% think those who are able should be required to work. The president’s plan opposes such work requirements.
- Another provision would provide tax credits of up to $50,000 for print journalists. Just 19% of voters favor that provision.
Beyond the budget battles, 67% of voters consider the situation at the border to be a crisis. Just 22% say Biden has done a good or excellent job dealing with it.
Perhaps a deeper problem for the president is that his plan envisions Washington as the engine of change. However, 64% of voters believe positive change in America begins outside the political system.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Question:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Biden is performing his job?
22% Strongly approve
25% Somewhat approve
13% Somewhat disapprove
35% Strongly disapprove
5% Not sure
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on October 14-16, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
