Biden approval rating slips to 40 percent: Gallup

President Biden’s approval rating has slipped 2 percentage points since February, according to a new Gallup poll. 

The poll, published on Tuesday, found that 40 percent of respondents approve of the job Biden is doing as president, down from 42 percent in a poll taken last month.

Biden’s approval also dropped on key issues like the economy and foreign policy.

On the economy, 32 percent of respondents approve of the job the president has done, compared to 34 percent in February and 31 percent in August last year.

The Gallup poll was taken between March 1-23, a period in which the Biden administration scrambled to contain the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the largest banking failure since the subprime mortgage crisis that helped spur the 2008 financial crisis.

Biden has also continued to face pressure over rising inflation and the Federal Reserve’s ongoing interest rate hikes.

On foreign affairs, 38 percent of respondents approved of the job the president has done, down from 41 percent last month.

Biden has continued to play a leading role in the international coalition supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia, as GOP voters indicate increasing skepticism toward Ukraine aide and leading Republican figures like former President Trump push to end the war.

Biden has also come under mounting criticism for Republicans over his efforts to counter China, highlighted in February when a Chinese spy balloon floated over the United States before being shot down off the east coast.

On energy and the environment, 43 percent of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of environmental issues, while 38 percent approved of the job the president has done on energy policy.

Biden has faced controversy with progressive groups and environmental activists over his decision earlier this month to approve a massive oil drilling effort in Alaska known as the Willow Project. The Willow Project is a ConocoPhillips effort to extract 576 million barrels of oil from Alaska over a 30-year period.

But that approval has done little to blunt Republican criticism that the Biden administration is not doing enough to promote domestic energy production. The White House said this week that Biden would veto a GOP package in the House aimed at increasing oil and gas extraction in the U.S.

The Gallup poll follows a Monmouth University survey published on Monday that found 25 percent of Democrat respondents said they want Biden to run for reelection in 2024, while 44 percent of Democrats surveyed believe that Biden should step aside.

Biden has yet to officially announce his reelection bid, but he is widely expected to seek a second term. He said earlier this month that he has “other things to finish” before making a decision on whether to run again. 

The Gallup poll was conducted from March 1 to 23 with a total of 1,009 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error is 5 percentage points.