President Donald Trump’s approval rating dropped to 46 percent in this week’s survey, the poll shows. | Getty Poll: Health care debacle takes toll on Trump

Voter perceptions of President Donald Trump’s job performance have eroded following the failure of a long-promised health care bill through Congress, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

Trump’s approval rating dropped to 46 percent in this week’s survey, the poll shows, down from 50 percent a week prior. For the first time in POLITICO/Morning Consult’s polling since Trump’s inauguration, more voters now disapprove of his job performance — 50 percent in this week’s poll — than approve.


While disapproval of Trump only narrowly exceeds his approval rating, the intensity gap between opponents and supporters of Trump is far wider. Overall, 38 percent of voters strongly disapprove of Trump, compared to only 23 percent who strongly approve.

Other polls have been consistently even more negative for Trump, who hasn’t benefited from the same honeymoon from Americans that other recent presidents have enjoyed. A sustained slide in Trump’s poll numbers after pulling the health care bill, however, could threaten Trump’s other legislative priorities, including his plans to overhaul the U.S. tax system.

"President Trump's approval ratings are at their lowest point since he took office, according to the weekly POLITICO/Morning Consult surveys," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult’s co-founder and chief research officer. "However, as this week's results represent a relatively sharp departure from the recent trendline, we will keep a close watch in subsequent weeks before drawing major conclusions."

The decline in Trump’s approval rating was sharper among Republicans and independents than among Democrats. In the latest survey, 81 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of independents approve of the job Trump is doing. A week prior, 85 percent of GOP voters and 44 percent approved. And among those who self-identified as Trump voters last year, the president’s approval rating shrunk from 90 percent last week to 84 percent this week.

Voters aren’t very assured that Trump will be able to get things done in the White House, the poll shows. Only 26 percent say they are “very confident” in his ability to serve as president, with another 21 percent saying they are “somewhat confident.” But 13 percent are “not too confident,” and 36 percent aren’t “at all” confident.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act, which Trump and congressional Republicans were seeking to replace, continues to increase in popularity. Half of voters now approve of the law, compared to 43 percent who disapprove. Approval for the law has increased 4 percentage points from last week, and 9 points from early January.

While Trump and House Republicans say they are regrouping after last week’s fiasco, only 37 percent of voters want the GOP to continue with their efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare — fewer than the 51 percent who want the party to move on to other things. But among Republican voters, there’s more appetite to keep fighting: twice as many want the GOP to keep trying, 62 percent, than the 30 percent who want the party to move on.

The poll was conducted March 24-25 — entirely after Trump and House Republicans canceled at the last moment a vote on the American Health Care Act, which was designed to replace many of the Obamacare provisions. The poll surveyed 1,991 voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Trump’s presidency continues to be plagued by questions about links between his team and the Russian government. And while the investigations continue with little clarity, one measure suggests voters are more troubled by the allegations.

Twenty-nine percent of voters call Russia an “enemy” of the U.S., and 30 percent say it is an unfriendly nation. Only 7 percent call Russia an “ally,” and another 22 percent say it’s friendly but not an ally. Five weeks ago, voters were divided evenly on whether Russia was friendly toward the United States.

But voters are split on whether Russia “influenced the results” of the 2016 election: 41 percent say yes, while 40 percent say no.

One brighter spot for Trump in the poll are views of Neil Gorsuch, the federal appellate judge Trump has nominated to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. A plurality of voters, 44 percent, think the Senate should confirm Gorsuch, while only 23 percent say they Senate shouldn’t confirm Gorsuch. With a vote on Gorsuch’s nomination tentatively slated for next week, a third of voters don’t know or don’t have an opinion on whether Gorsuch should be confirmed.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has vowed to force Gorsuch to earn a supermajority, and the poll shows voters support a 60-vote threshold. More than half, 55 percent, say a nominee to the high court should require 60 votes to be approved, while just 21 percent think the threshold should be lowered to a simple majority.

But while there’s little support for changing Senate rules, Dropp said there’s also limited opposition to Gorsuch among Democratic voters.

"As Senate Democrats are considering whether to dig-in their heels against Neil Gorsuch, many Democratic voters aren't actively opposed to his nomination,” said Dropp. “While 39 percent of Democrats do think Gorsuch should be blocked, 25 percent think he should be confirmed, and 36 percent don’t know or don’t have an opinion.”

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents — Toplines: http://politi.co/2nhiyfH | Crosstabs: http://politi.co/2o4yzJv