Here’s How Popular Top Officials Are Among Americans

Andrew Trunsky 

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is the most popular federal official among a group of 11 that includes congressional leaders, Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden, new polling shows.

Roberts has 60% approval among American adults in the Gallup survey, released Monday, seven points higher than Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who polled the second-highest. Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, polled third at 52% approval, while 47% of respondents said they disapproved of him.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris polled at 43% and 44% approval, respectively. While Harris’ approval was slightly higher than Biden’s, her disapproval was three points higher.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy polled the highest among the four congressional leaders with 46% approval. He was followed closely by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who polled at 44% approval, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi polled at 40% and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell polled at 34%.

All four congressional leaders had disapproval ratings that were higher than their respective approval ratings.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the other two officials polled, each came in at 49% approval and 43% disapproval.

Of the officials polled, Roberts was the only one to receive bipartisan approval. Only Roberts, Powell and Garland received over 50%  approval from Independents, while Pelosi and McConnell received the lowest marks from the group.

While Schumer and Pelosi polled similarly among Democrats, receiving 76% and 71% approval, respectively, McCarthy polled 25 points higher among Republicans than McConnell. The two are largely split on their embrace of former President Donald Trump; McCarthy has fully backed him while McConnell has sought to distance the GOP from him and debunked claims of voter fraud surrounding the 2020 election.

McConnell has also said that he is interested in the findings of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, which Republicans, including McCarthy, have alleged to be illegitimate.

The survey polled 811 adults across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from Dec. 1-16, and it has a margin of error of four percentage points.