President Biden’s Legislative Agenda Remains Popular After 100 Days in Office

By Isa Alomran and Devi Ruia

When we hit the 100 day marker in President Biden’s administration last week, Biden had already accomplished many of his campaign promises. Of course, many legislative priorities still remain, and in a number of surveys leading up to Biden’s 100th day in office, Data for Progress gauged likely voter support for a number of Biden’s top legislative priorities that he will pursue going forward. 

Specifically, Data for Progress surveyed voter attitudes on Biden’s proposed Cancer Moonshot, his Build Back Better infrastructure plan (now the American Jobs Plan), Biden’s pandemic relief American Rescue Plan which was passed in March, expanding The Dream Act, and the Endless Frontier technological innovation Act. For each proposal, voters were told briefly what each proposal entailed, including the dollar amount spent for proposals like the Endless Frontier Act. 

To test the support for the president’s agenda, we asked likely voters across two surveys whether or not they supported or opposed each of the proposals. In one survey, we used partisan-wording — that is, telling voters these priorities were Biden’s — and in another survey, we used non-partisan wording where we did not mention the president.

We find that a majority of likely voters support each of these priorities by significant margins, both when they were and were not told they were proposed by President Biden. 

  • The Cancer Moonshot was overwhelmingly popular among likely voters, enjoying an 81-percentage-point margin of support when non-partisan wording was used, and a 70-percentage-point margin of support when voters were told it was a Biden proposal.

  • When voters were asked about the proposals with non-partisan wording, The Endless Frontier Act, the Build Back Better Plan, and the American Rescue Plan all enjoy similar levels of majority support by margins of 59-points, 56-points, and 52-points, respectively. Likely voter backing for these proposals remained strong even when voters were asked about them with partisan wording. Each proposal enjoys margins of support of 51-points, 48-points, and 47-points, respectively.

  • And while a somewhat smaller share of voters said they supported the Dream Act, this priority still remains largely popular, enjoying a 36-point margin of support when voters were not told it was a Biden proposal and a 26-point margin of support when voters were told it was a Biden proposal.

 
 

In advocating for the American Rescue Plan (or ARP), passed into law in March of 2021, President Biden often touted that this proposal enjoyed bipartisan support from voters across the country. Our polling supports the president's claim. When asked about the ARP without mentioning President Biden, a majority of likely voters that self-identify as Democrats, Independents, and Republicans said they supported the proposal by margins of 81-points, 53-points, and 17-points, respectively. We find similar levels of support in the case where voters were told that the American Rescue Plan was proposed by President Biden. Self-identified Democrats and Independents said they supported the ARP by 91-point and 45-point margins, respectively. Meanwhile, Republicans are split in support of this proposal where a plurality say they oppose it by a 2-point margin (46 percent support, 48 percent oppose). The impact of attributing this policy to President Biden was an increase in support among Democrats and a decrease in support among Republicans. While Republican support may have decreased, nearly 50 percent of all Republican likely voters still said they support the American Rescue Plan.

 
 

Similarly, the American Rescue Plan enjoys the support of a majority of voters across urban, suburban and rural geographies, both when and when not ascribed to the president. Geographies fall under one of each of the three categories according to population density in a zip code. Zip code areas where the population is less than 10,000 are classified as rural, areas with a population greater than 10,000 but less than 50,000 as suburban, and areas with a population greater than 50,000 as urban. When Biden is not mentioned, likely voters living in urban, suburban, and rural areas said they backed the proposal by margins of 73-points, 51-points, and 37-points, respectively. Support for the ARP remains consistent when Biden is mentioned in the question, where the proposal enjoys support in the margins of 43-points, 49-points, and 43-points across urban, suburban, and rural areas respectively.

 
 

Voters were also asked about the Cancer Moonshot, a multi-billion dollar federal investment proposal that aims to make cancer treatments available to more patients, while also improving the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage. This proposal enjoys overwhelming support across party lines, both when the president is mentioned and when he is not. When the president is not mentioned, self-identified Democrats, Independents, and Republicans support for the Cancer Moonshot by a margin of 85-points, 80-points, and 77-points, respectively. Support for the proposal remains largely consistent when partisan wording is used. Democrats and Independents back the Cancer Moonshot by 88-point and 75-point margins, respectively. While support falls among Republicans when the president is mentioned, two-thirds of them still back this proposal by a margin of 46-percentage-points.

 
 

The Cancer Moonshot also enjoys broad support across urban, suburban, and rural communities. When non-partisan wording is used, likely voters living in urban and suburban areas back this proposal by margins of 91-points and 81-points, while rural voters support it by a 72-point margin. Support remains high when President Biden is mentioned, with voters backing the Cancer Moonshot by 58-point, 74-point, and 67-point margins across those same communities.

 
 

Voters were also asked about the Build Back Better Plan, which was described to respondents as an infrastructure plan parallel to the American Jobs Plan, which had not been announced at the time the two surveys were fielded. Specifically, voters were told that the Build Back Better Plan is a proposal to spend $4 trillion on roads, clean energy, schools, bridges, broadband and other infrastructure in an effort to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. When the president was not mentioned, likely voters who identify as Democrats, Independents, and Republicans supported the proposal by margins of 80-points, 61-points, and 28-points, respectively. Overall support remains consistent when linking the Build Back Better plan to Biden. Democrats and Independents support the proposal by about the same levels as their counterparts that did not see President Biden mentioned, backing it by margins of 86-points and 47-points, respectively. While less Republicans support the Build Back Better Plan when it is ascribed to Biden, half still back the proposal by a 6-point margin.

 
 

Support for the Build Back Better plan remained consistent across different geographies. When Biden was not mentioned, urban voters supported it by a margin of 72-points, suburban voters by a margin of 59-points, and rural voters by a margin of 34-points. When Biden was mentioned, urban voters supported the proposal by a 40-point margin, suburban voters by a 52-point margin, and rural voters by a 39-point margin.

 
 

More recent Data for Progress polling, in partnership with Vox, highlights how support for a comprehensive infrastructure plan remains consistently high across partisanship. In a survey of 1,217 likely voters fielded from April 9th to April 12th, likely voters were asked whether they supported or opposed the American Jobs Plan and it’s provisions. We find that the proposal enjoys a 43-point margin of support among all likely voters, and margins of support of 80-points and 47-points among Democrats and Independents, respectively. Republicans, meanwhile, oppose the proposal by a margin of 9-points (41 percent support, 50 percent opposed).

 
 
Voters Across Party Lines Support the Endless Frontier Act

Voters were also asked about the Endless Frontier Act, an initiative to bolster U.S. tech leadership. When asked about the act without mentioning Biden, Democrats supported it by a 70-point margin, Independents by a 66-point margin, and Republicans by a 40-point margin. Support remained when Biden was mentioned in connection with the Endless Frontier Act. Democrats supported it by a margin of 79-points, Independents by a margin of 51-points, and Republicans by a margin of 19-points.

 
 

Voters from different geographic backgrounds also expressed support for the Endless Frontier Act. When asked about the proposal with non-partisan wording, urban voters supported it by a margin of 61-points, suburban voters by a margin of 58-points, and rural voters by a margin of 59-points. Support remained when voters were asked about the proposal in connection to Biden. Urban voters supported it by a 39-point margin, suburban voters by a 55-point margin, and rural voters by a 44-point margin.

 
 
Voters Support the Dream Act

Voters were also asked about the Dream Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. When asked about the proposal without President Biden’s name being mentioned, Democrats supported it by a margin of 77-points, and Independents supported it by a margin of 41-points. Meanwhile, a plurality of Republicans opposed it by a margin of 13-points (41 percent support, 54 percent oppose). When Biden’s name was mentioned in connection to the proposal, the proposal maintained clear majority support, including an 78-point margin of Democrats and a 28-point margin of Independents. However, Republican support for expanding the Dream Act fell further when linking the proposal to the president, where two-thirds of Republicans said they oppose it by a 37-point margin.

 
 

Support remained consistent when voters across different geographies were asked whether they support or oppose the Dream Act. When Biden is not mentioned, majorities of likely voters living in urban, suburban, and rural areas said they backed the proposal by margins of 46-points, 39-points, and 15-points, respectively. When Biden was mentioned, support was still maintained across these different geographies. Urban voters supported it by a margin of 24-points and suburban voters supported it by a margin of 33-points. In rural areas, while the Dream Act lost majority support, a plurality of voters still supported it by a margin of 3-points.

 
 
Conclusion

This polling demonstrates that Biden’s priorities are popular with a broad majority of the electorate. Across partisanship and different geographies, voters around the country back the president’s legislative agenda, with the Cancer Moonshot, Endless Frontier Act, and the American Jobs Plan enjoying support among two-thirds of all likely voters. As Biden’s first 100 day were marked by achievements like the signing of the historic American Rescue Plan, so should the weeks and months that follow, as voters continue to express support for these priorities that would invest in American infrastructure and American families.

Isa Alomran is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.

Devi Ruia (@DeviRuia) is a press assistant at Data for Progress.

Survey Methodology

From March 3 to March 4, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1192 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.

From March 12 to March 14, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1199 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.

Lew BlankInfrastructure, Healthcare, Immigration, Economy