Americans have revealed their opinions on the country’s leading political figures to DailyMail.com, giving a nod of approval to incoming Donald and Melania Trump over outgoing Joe and Jill Biden.
The president-elect and incoming first lady together perform more favorably than the current first couple.
The Trumps have a combined approval rating of 86%, according to an exclusive poll conducted for DailyMail.com by JL Partners, while the Bidens have a combined rating of 82%.
Individually, Donald Trump surpasses Joe Biden, 45% compared to the current president’s 42%. And Melania Trump leads Jill Biden, between 41% and 40%.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris had a 49% approval rating.
The White House is preparing for a transition back to the Trumps. The couple will move in on January 20, Inauguration Day, while the Bidens are expected to return to Wilmington, Delaware.
Both Trumps have been making personnel announcements.
More Americans favored Donald and Melania Trump, DailyMail.com poll finds
And Melania Trump told Fox & Friends on Friday morning that she’s busy packing her things and organizing her office.
“This time it’s very different because we already know where we’re going and we already have all the previous plans, so we don’t need to go back,” he said.
She noted that she has already lived in the White House for four years, so she is familiar with the terrain.
‘It’s very different because I know what you need to establish. You know what kind of people you need to hire to be in your office, so that’s what I’m doing now.
When Donald Trump is sworn in, he will have a Republican Congress to help him with his legislative agenda.
But the DailyMail.com poll shows that Americans are not as familiar with top Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had a 24% approval rating, but 44% of respondents did not have an opinion or had heard of him.
Incoming Republican Senate leader John Thune has a 14% approval rating, but 64% of people didn’t know who he was.
The president-elect has been busy naming members of his cabinet.
And Trump says he wants to bypass the Senate so he can more easily confirm his most extreme Cabinet nominations, but Americans disagree.
In a social media post made shortly after his election, Trump warned lawmakers, telling them they “must accept recess appointments,” clearly indicating that anyone who thinks otherwise is against the president-elect’s plans.
It’s an antiquated feature originally created by the founding fathers for emergencies when Congress was out of town and it took days for lawmakers to travel to the nation’s capital on horseback.
The controversial power play would allow the commander in chief to bypass Senate confirmation by appointing people to his top administration positions.
In recent decades, the Senate has never been “on recess” for more than a few days at a time, as they have to agree when to adjourn and can hold “pro forma sessions.”
That prevents the president in power from making recess appointments whenever he wants.
But if Trump fails to rally support for his most controversial candidates, such as Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services nominee Robert Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, and FBI Director Kash Patel could try to install them by bypassing the Senate.
However, among the 1,000 registered voters who responded to the latest DailyMail.com/JL Partners poll, it is a hugely unpopular plan.
By a two-to-one margin, voters agreed that the Senate should not go into recess, regardless of whether it slows down Trump’s appointments.
Overall, 51 percent of respondents said the Republican should not use recess appointments.
Only 25 percent said that if it means speeding up President Trump’s appointments, the Senate should go into recess.
The poll also surprisingly found that Republicans are even divided on whether or not Trump’s recess appointments plan is the right way forward.
GOP respondents were deadlocked on whether or not the Senate should adjourn to help Trump with his plan, with 41 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed; the remaining 18 percent said they were unsure.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden Will Leave the White House in January
But Trump has demanded he get his way.
“Any Republican senator seeking the coveted leadership position in the United States Senate must accept recess appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote in your Truth Social app. in November, while the House leadership elections were underway.
His post alerted lawmakers to his upcoming plans.
“Sometimes votes can take two years or more,” his post continued. ‘This is what they did four years ago and we cannot allow it to happen again. We need to fill positions immediately!’
Recess appointments were last used by President Barack Obama in 2012, when he appointed three officials to the National Labor Relations Board without Senate confirmation.