US President Joe Biden
US President Joe BidenOfficial White House Photo by Adam Schultz

President Joe Biden’s declining approval rating is severely boosting Republican hopes of flipping the Senate and House of Representatives, weighing down Democrats ahead of next year’s midterm elections, a new poll shows.

According to a survey released Sunday by ABC and The Washington Post, just 38% of registered voters approve of Biden’s job performance, compared to 57% who disapprove, for a net approval rating of negative 19 points.

Nearly half (48%) said they strongly disapprove of Biden’s performance as president, compared to just 19% who said they strongly approve.

Biden received particularly low marks on his handling of the economy, with just 38% of respondents approving, compared to 59% who disapproved. Just 27% of registered voters said the economy under Biden has been good or excellent, compared to 72% who said it was poor or not so good.

The president’s average approval rating now sits at 42.0%, according to the RealClearPolitics rolling average of polls, compared to 52.7% disapproval, Biden’s lowest net rating since taking office.

While other recent polls have shown Biden’s low approval rating hurting him in a hypothetical rematch with Donald Trump in 2024, the ABC/WP poll also shows the president’s weak polling numbers reversing Democratic leads in congressional polling.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls showed Democrats leading Republicans in generic congressional ballot polls from April through the end of October.

Now, for the first time, the RCP average shows Republicans leading Democrats by an average of 0.7 points, 44.1% to 43.4%.

The ABC/WP poll gave Republicans their widest lead in a poll this year, with the GOP leading the Democratic Party by 10 points in the generic congressional vote, 51% to 41%.

Democrats narrowly retained control of the House of Representatives in 2020, winning 222 seats in the 435-member chamber, with 218 needed for control of the Speaker’s gavel. Democrats hold the Senate by an even narrower margin, with the upper chamber split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, forcing Democrats to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-splitting vote to maintain control.