There’s Been A Lot Of News But Little Change In Trump’s Approval Rating Welcome to the first edition of our new weekly polling roundup.

Welcome to a new weekly column — Name TBD — about polls and politics. We’ll follow President Trump’s approval rating and the generic ballot, and provide a far-ranging round-up of the most interesting surveys released over the past week. (Also, a “TV theme song of the week.” Just because.) I hope you enjoy it, but it’s very much a work in progress, so if you have requests for what you want to see in this space (or ideas for the column’s name), email us. This week’s TV theme song: the Osmonds sing “Hello Utah” for KUTV.

Trump’s job approval rating

President Trump’s job approval ratings barely budged over the past week. He began it at 37 percent approve and 57 percent disapprove, and that’s where he is now.

So far, Trump’s pardon of ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio hasn’t had much effect on his approval rating. That’s about as expected. The pardon was unpopular, but so is Trump. And most people who disapproved of the pardon were already anti-Trump.

Trump’s handling of Hurricane Harvey, meanwhile, also hasn’t really moved the needle on his approval. But it’s still very early, and that could change as the damage from the storm is assessed and the government’s response unfolds. Early surveys indicate that, if anything, Trump might receive a boost in the storm’s aftermath. In a Fox News poll, 44 percent approved of Trump’s handling of the storm compared to 26 percent who disapproved. That’s a better split than his overall approval rating. Still, roughly a third of respondents (30 percent) were undecided, and they were mostly Hillary Clinton voters, so don’t be surprised if we end up with a more even divide between approval and disapproval of Trump’s handling of the storm as more Americans make up their mind.

The generic ballot

Democrats currently lead the generic congressional ballot 46 percent to 36 percent. (Last week: Democrats’ 47 percent to Republicans’ 37 percent).

We get a lot less polling for the generic ballot than we do Trump’s approval rating, but it’s well-worth following nonetheless. Between self-sorting and the way district lines are drawn, Republicans have a built-in advantage in the battle for control of the House. In short, the GOP can hold the House even while losing the national House vote. But Democrats’ large lead at the moment is still a clear indication that Trump is dragging down congressional Republicans. Anyway, the numbers haven’t moved much over the past week, so we’re in a watch-and-wait mode.

Other interesting nuggets