McCarthy's approval rating spikes after first week as speaker

January 15, 2023

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) got a spike in his approval rating that corresponded with his first week as House speaker, according to a new Economist/YouGov survey.

Before the midterms, McCarthy's approval rating was 27%, but as of Jan. 10, it had jumped to 36%, nearly even with his disapproval rating of 37%.

A majority of Republicans, 59%, approved of his performance as speaker so far, even though it had only been a few days. Only 21% disapproved.

In his first week, McCarthy led a vote to strip funding to hire 87,000 new IRS agents and launched several investigations into Democrats including President Joe Biden.

He also created a select committee on China and the threats it poses.

It was a busy week after taking 15 rounds of voting to get elected, but he seems to be toeing a pretty conservative line.