President Joe Biden praised the recent passage in the Senate of the Inflation Reduction Act.
“This bill tackles inflation by lowering the deficit and lowering costs for regular families,” Biden said in a statement Aug. 7.
The $430 billion bill was spearheaded by Senators Joe Manchin (D-West Virgina) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) passed along party lines 51-50 with Vice President, Kamala Harris, casting the deciding vote, according to the Senate website. The legislation addresses priorities related to climate change and healthcare and includes $430 billion in new government spending, according to the New York Post.
According to Smart Asset, economists have linked rising inflation to increased federal government spending. Many Republicans share the sentiments of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) who said the Inflation Reduction Act will only deepen the country’s economic woes, according to Fox News.
Despite the passage of the legislation, Biden’s approval rating is still low. A recent Gallup poll had only 38% of Americans approving of Biden’s job performance amid record inflation and that number shrunk even more among independent voters to 31%.
Those dismal approval numbers have not swayed Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) from siding with the Biden administration 92.3% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight’s data on how often Senators vote with or against the president.
During the president’s sixth quarter in office, spanning from April 20 through July 19, an average of 40% of Americans approved of the job he was doing as president. Gallup noted that no president elected to his first term has had a lower sixth-quarter average than Biden, although Jimmy Carter’s and Donald Trump’s ratings were only slightly better at 42%.
“Biden’s average approval rating 1.5 years in is the lowest of any president in Gallup poll’s 74-year history,” One America News host, Addison Smith, said in an Aug. 4 tweet.
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act could lead to an increase in Biden’s approval rating, according to Politico.
“After enduring a brutal year dominated by economic angst, legislative setbacks and sinking approval ratings, the president is suddenly on the verge of a turnaround that, the White House believes, could salvage his summer — and alter the trajectory of his presidency,” Politico reported at the end of July.
