Regardless of whom they supported in the 2020 election. 69% of adults think that Biden’s election was legitimate while 29% believe it was not legitimate.
In 2017, 57% saw Trump’s election as legitimate while 85% saw Barack Obama’s election as being legitimate. In 2001, 62% saw the election of President Bush as being legitimate.
68% believe there is no solid evidence that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. [WP/U of Maryland 12/19/21]
(The following is based on registered voters unless indicated otherwise.)
President Biden’s job approval ratings
| Date | NBC | WP/ABC | CNN | FOX | QUINNIPIAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEC’21 | xxx | xxx | 48/52 | 47/51 | xxx |
| NOV’21 | xxx | xxx | 45/54 | xxx | xxx |
| NOV’21 | xxx | 38/57 | 48/52 | 44/54 | 38/53 |
| OCT’21 | 45/52 | xxx | 50/50 | xxx | 40/51 |
| OCT’21 | xxx | xxx | 50/50 | xxx | 40/53 |
| SEPT’21 | xxx | xxx | xxx | 50/49 | 44/50 |
| SEPT’21 | xxx | 44/51A | 52/48 | xxx | xxx |
| AUG’21 | 49/48A | xxx | xxx | 53/46 | 47/44 |
| JULY’21 | 48/45A (CNBC) | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| JUNE’21 | xxx | xxx | xxx | 56/43 | 49/41 |
| MAY’21 | xxx | xxx | xxx | 54/42 | 49/41 |
| APR’21 | 51/43 | 52/42 | 52/45 | 54/43 | 48/42 |
| Date | AP-NORC | ECON/YOUGOV | POL/MORNCON |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAN’22 | xxx | 43/51 | xxx |
| DEC’21 | xxx | 42/50 | xxx |
| DEC’21 | xxx | 43/51 | 43/53 |
| DEC’21 | xxx | 42/53 | 46/51 |
| NOV’21 | xxx | 44/50 | xxx |
| NOV’21 | xxx | 43/51 | 44/53 |
| NOV’21 | xxx | 45/49 | 46/51 |
| OCT’21 | xxx | xxx | 45/52 |
| OCT’21 | xxx | 42/51 | 46/51 |
| OCT’21 | xxx | 44/49 | 45/52 |
| SEPT’21 | xxx | 43/52 | xxx |
| AUG’21 | xxx | 47/46 | 47/49 |
| AUG’21 | 54/46 | 48/46 | 50/48 |
| AUG’21 | xxx | 47/47 | 51/46 |
| AUG’21 | xxx | 49/44 | 52/46 |
| JULY’21 | 59/41 | 49/45 | 52/45 |
| JULY’21 | xxx | 50/43 | 52/44 |
| JUNE’21 | 55/44 | 52/44 | 53/44 |
| xxx | 51/43 | 52/43 | |
| MAY’21 | xxx | 52/42 | 55/41 |
| APR’21 | 63/36 A | xxx | xxx |
As of January 1, 2022, the following is Biden’s approval rating based on Real Clear Politics:
| Approval | Disapproval | |
|---|---|---|
| Over all | 42.9% | 53.5% 1/2/22 |
| On the economy | 40.3% | 55.3% 12/21 |
| On foreign policy | 41.0% | 52.5% 12/20 |
Gallup now does monthly or semi-monthly surveys of all adults. WW will include a periodic polling summary–Registered and Likely Voters–by FiveThirtyEight.
| Gallup (All Adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Reg/Likely voters) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Approval | Disapproval | Approval | Disapproval |
| 12/16/21 | 43% | 51% | 43.7% | 50.7% |
| 11/16/21 | 42% | 55% | 42.8% | 51.7% |
| 10/19/21 | 42% | 52% | 44.1% | 49.9% |
| 9/17/21 | 43% | 53% | 45.7% | 48.8% |
| 8/17/21 | 49% | 48% | 48.5% | 45.9% |
| 6/18/21 | 56% | 42% | 51.8% | 42.4% |
| 5/18/21 | 54% | 40% | 52.7% | 40.7% |
| 4/21/21 | 57% | 40% | 53.4% | 40.1% |
| 3/15/21 | 54% | 42% | 53.8% | 40.2% |
| 2/18/21 | 56% | 40% | 54.4% | 37.8% |
Vice President Harris has an approval/disapproval rate among adults of 41.3% approval and a disapproval rate 50.4%.
Other elected presidents’ approval ratings in December of their first year in office.
| Approve | ||
|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden | 43 | December 2021 |
| Donald Trump | 35 | December 2017 |
| Barack Obama | 51 | December 2009 |
| George W. Bush | 86 | December 2001 |
| Bill Clinton | 54 | December 1993 |
| George H.W. Bush | 71 | December 1989 |
| Ronald Reagan | 49 | December 1981 |
| Jimmy Carter | 57 | December 1977 |
| Richard Nixon | 59 | December 1969 |
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
President Biden has been able to affect the federal judiciary early. This is the most Article III judicial nominees confirmed through this point in all presidencies since 1981 when Ronald Reagan appointed the same number in his first year. Going back as far as Franklin Delano Roosevelt the only President to have confirmed more judges in his first year in office was John Kennedy who had 58 judges confirmed in his first year as president.
As of December 18, 2021, 40 judges nominated by Biden have been confirmed, 11 to the Courts of Appeals, and 29 to the District Courts.
There are currently an additional 65 vacancies in Article III courts, 3 in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 62 in the U.S. District Courts, and 2 in the in the U.S. Courts of International Trade.
President Biden has nominated an additional 31 individuals, 26 to the district, and 5 to the circuit courts, and has announced the names of two people that he plans to nominate U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Among Biden’s nominees are the first LGBTQ woman to serve on any federal circuit, the first Muslim American federal judge in history, and the first Korean American woman to serve as a federal appellate judge.
The chart below reflects the number of Article III court judges appointed by every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter.
| Total | Supreme Ct | Appeals Ct | District Ct | Int’l Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biden – 11 months | 40 | 0 | 11 | 29 | |
| Trump – 4 years | 234 | 3 | 54 | 174 | 3 |
| Obama – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 55 | 268 | |
| GW Bush – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 62 | 261 | |
| Clinton – 8 years | 373 | 2 | 66 | 305 | |
| GHW Bush – 4 years | 192 | 2 | 42 | 148 | |
| Reagan – 8 years | 376 | 3 | 83 | 290 | |
| Carter – 4 years | 259 | 0 | 56 | 203 |
[USCourts/Wikipedia/List of federal judges appointed by Joe Biden]
There are roughly 4,000 politically appointed positions in the executive branch and independent agencies including more than 1,200 that require Senate confirmation.
The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service are tracking 801 of those 1200 positions.
266 have been confirmed by the Senate.
171 nominees are being considered by the Senate.
22 picks are awaiting formal nomination.
141 positions have no Biden nominee.
201 appointees are serving in termed positions or were held over from previous administrations.
Compared to nominees confirmed by this date, by recent presidents Biden is running in 3rd place; Bush – 403, Obama 383, Biden 266, Trump 238.
The following are the favorability ratings for a variety of political leaders
based on the Real Clear Politics averages for 12/21/2021.
| Favorable | Unfavorable | |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden | 42.3 | 52.4 |
| Donald Trump | 40.9 | 51.8 |
| Kamala Harris | 39.7 | 52.7 |
| Nancy Pelosi | 33.1 | 57.9 |
| Chuck Schumer | 31.2 | 45.6 |
| Kevin McCarthy | 23.3 | 42.3 |
| Mitch McConnell | 22.8 | 59.2 |