President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. He still has not addressed the question of whether he will run for re-election in 2024.
President Biden has announced that he will cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individual’s earning less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 per year for married couples who file taxes jointly. There is additional forgiveness of $10,000 for Pell grant recipients.
The White House estimates that some level of forgiveness will be received by up to 43 million people. 20 million borrowers could have their debt completely canceled. 53% of borrowers owe less than $20,000.
In addition, President Biden is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments through December 31.
Among all voters, the percentage of Americans who support the President’s plan is only slightly larger than those who oppose.
| Support | Oppose | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All voters | 48% | 43% | 9% |
| Democrats | 72 | 19 | 9 |
| Independents | 42 | 47 | 11 |
| Republicans | 26 | 67 | 8 |
| Folks who owe student debt | 73 | 22 | 5 |
To find the authority to cancel billions of dollars in student debt without congressional action the administration is relying on its determination that student loan debt constitutes a “national emergency.”
At the time of this writing (September 5) Republicans, who oppose this plan, are searching for someone who has the standing to sue. [WPost 8/24/2022; Morning Consult 8/31/2022; Time 8/29/2022]
(The following is based on registered voters unless indicated otherwise.)
| Date | NBC | WP/ABC | CNN | FOX | QUINNIPIAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUG’22 | 42/55 | xxx | xxx | 41/55 | 43/53 |
| JULY’22 | xxx | xxx | xxx | 36/58 | 33/59 |
| JUNE’22 | xxx | xxx | xxx | 43/57 | 35/56 |
| MAY’22 | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx | 38/55 |
| MAY’22 | 42/54 | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx |
| APR’22 | xxx | 42/52 | 41/59 | 45/53 | 40/51 |
| APR’22 | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx | 35/55 |
| MAR’22 | xxx | xxx | xxx | xxx | 40/54 |
| MAR’22 | 41/54 | xxx | xxx | 45/54 | 38/55 |
| FEB’22 | xxx | 38/57 | 42/57 | xxx | 37/56 |
| JAN’22 | 44/54 | xxx | xxx | 47/52 | 34/54 |
| 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 |
| Date | ECON/YOUGOV | POL/MORNCON |
|---|---|---|
| AUG’22 | 41/55 | 42/56 |
| JULY’22 | 40/55 | 39/59 |
| JULY’22 | 41/53 | xxx |
| JUNE’22 | 44/51 | 40/56 |
| JUNE’22 | 43/51 | 39/58 |
| MAY’22 | 44/51 | 42/56 |
| MAY’22 | 43/51 | 44/54 |
| MAY’22 | 42/51 | 42/55 |
| APR’22 | 46/50 | 41/55 |
| APR’22 | xxx | 42/55 |
| APR’22 | 43/51 | 45/52 |
| APR’22 | 46/49 | 41/55 |
| MAR’22 | 43/50 | xxx |
| MAR’22 | 45/49 | 42/54 |
| MAR’22 | 41/53 | 42/55 |
| MAR’22 | 44/49 | 45/51 |
| FEB’22 | 42/53 | 43/53 |
| FEB’22 | 41/51 | 41/55 |
| FEB’22 | 45/49 | xxx |
| JAN’22 | xxx | 43/54 |
| JAN’22 | 41/51 | 42/55 |
| JAN’22 | 42/53 | xxx |
| JAN’22 | 45/51 | 40/56 |
| DEC’21 | xxx | 43/53 |
| DEC’21 | 42/53 | 46/51 |
| NOV’21 | 44/50 | xxx |
| NOV’21 | 43/51 | 44/53 |
| NOV’21 | 45/49 | 46/51 |
| OCT’21 | xxx | 45/52 |
| OCT’21 | 42/51 | 46/51 |
| OCT’21 | 44/49 | 45/52 |
| SEPT’21 | 46/58 | 47/50 |
As of September 1, 2022, the following is Biden’s approval rating based on Real Clear Politics.
| Approval | Disapproval | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over all | 42.1% | 54.8% | 9/1/22 |
| On the economy | 38.3% | 58.7% | 8/30/22 |
| On foreign policy | 39.2% | 54.8% | 8/30/22 |
Gallup now does monthly or semi-monthly surveys of all adults. WW will include a periodic polling summary of Registered and Likely Voters by FiveThirtyEight.
| Gallup (All Adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Reg/Likely | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Approval | Disapproval | Approval | Disapproval |
| 8/23/22 | 44.0% | 53.0% | 42.7% | 52.8% |
| 5/22/22 | 41.0% | 54.0% | 41.1% | 54.3% |
| 4/19/22 | 41.0% | 56.0% | 42.4% | 53.1% |
| 3/18/22 | 42.0% | 54.0% | 42.1% | 52.8% |
| 2/17/22 | 41.0% | 55.0% | 41.4% | 53.0% |
| 1/16/22 | 40.0% | 56.0% | 42.5% | 52.1% |
| 12/16/21 | 43.0% | 51.0% | 43.7% | 50.7% |
| 11/16/21 | 42.0% | 55.0% | 42.8% | 51.7% |
| 10/19/21 | 42.0% | 52.0% | 44.1% | 49.9% |
| 9/17/21 | 43.0% | 53.0% | 45.7% | 48.8% |
| 8/17/21 | 49.0% | 48.0% | 48.5% | 45.9% |
| 6/18/21 | 56.0% | 42.0% | 51.8% | 42.4% |
| 5/18/21 | 54.0% | 40.0% | 52.7% | 40.7% |
| 4/21/21 | 57.0% | 40.0% | 53.4% | 40.1% |
| 3/15/21 | 54.0% | 42.0% | 53.8% | 40.2% |
Using Gallup (all adults) as the marker, Biden’s approval rating has fallen by 5 points in the last year and his disapproval has grown by a similar number.
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
As of September 8, 2022, the United States Senate has confirmed 76 federal judges nominated by President Biden. One Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 18 judges for the United States Courts of Appeals, and 36 judges for the United States District Courts.
There are 60 nominations awaiting Senate action: 17 for the Courts of appeals and 43 for the District Courts. There are 9 vacancies if the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 67 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts.
There are currently 9 vacancies on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 69 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts, and 2 vacancies in the United States Court of International Trade.
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 – 1 year + | 79 | 1 | 20 | 58 | |
| 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 809 of those 1200 positions.
- 442 have been confirmed by the Senate
- 132 nominees are being considered by the Senate
- 1 pick is awaiting formal nomination
- 82 positions have no Biden nominee
- 152 appointees are serving in termed positions or were held over from previous administrations
[WP 9/1/22]
The following are the favorability ratings for a variety of political leaders based on the Real Clear Politics averages for 8/30/22.
| Favorable | Unfavorable | |
|---|---|---|
| Biden | 41.9 | 52.9 |
| Harris | 36.0 | 51.3 |
| Pelosi | 36.0 | 55.3 |
| McConnell | 23.3 | 55.7 |
| McCarthy | 28.3 | 42.7 |
| Schumer | 30.5 | 46.0 |
| Trump | 40.7 | 53.7 |