A new national poll indicates that President Biden’s approval ratings remain well underwater as the nation’s 46th president is only days from leaving office.

Just 36% of Americans approve of the job Biden’s doing in the White House, according to the latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with 64% saying they disapprove. The approval rating matches the president’s previous low mark in the cable news network’s polling during Biden’s single term in office.

The poll was released on Wednesday, just hours before the president delivers his prime-time farewell address to the nation, with just days left before Biden’s term ends and he is succeeded by President-elect Trump in the White House.

Biden’s approval rating stands at 43% – slightly higher but still in negative territory – in national polls by USA Today/Suffolk University and Marist College which, along with the CNN survey, were conducted earlier this month. 

The trio of polls also indicates that many Americans view Biden’s presidency as a failure.

Sixty-one percent of those questioned in the CNN survey said they see Biden’s presidency overall as a failure, with 38% viewing it as a success. 

According to the USA Today/Suffolk University survey, which was released on Tuesday, 44% of registered voters said history will assess Biden as a failed president, with 27% saying he will be judged as a fair president. Twenty-one percent of those questioned said history will view Biden as a good president, with only 5% saying he will be seen as a great president.

Just over a third of adults nationwide questioned in the Marist poll, which was released on Wednesday, said Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history, with 19% saying he will be considered a below-average president.

Twenty-eight percent of participants offered that Biden’s legacy will be considered average, with 19% saying he would be regarded as above average or one of the best presidents in the nation’s history.

In his Oval Office speech, Biden will likely aim to cement his legacy as a president who pushed to stabilize politics at home while bolstering America’s leadership abroad, and as a leader who steered the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic and made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy while lowering prescription drug prices.

Biden, in a letter to Americans released early Wednesday morning, emphasized that when he took office four years ago ‘we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.’

And he touted that ‘today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years.’

Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. However, the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden’s much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer that was mainly among unvaccinated people.

The plunge in the president’s approval rating was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans – and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border.

Biden’s approval ratings slipped underwater in the autumn of 2021 and never reemerged into positive territory.

The president’s single term in the White House ends Monday, Jan. 20, as Trump is inaugurated as Biden’s successor.

However, according to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 44% also said that Trump will be seen by history as a failed president. 

One in five said Trump would be viewed as a great president, with 19% saying good and 27% saying he would be judged a fair president.

Trump ended his first term in office with approval ratings in negative territory, including 47% approval in Fox News polling from four years ago.

In Marist polling four years ago, as Trump finished his first term, 47% thought he would be remembered as one of the nation’s worst presidents.

As Trump gets ready to once again assume the presidency, the Marist poll indicates opinions of him remain low, with 44% of Americans viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable opinion of the incoming president.

However, opinions about Trump’s first term have risen in numerous polls conducted since his convincing victory in November’s presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president succeeded Biden in July as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer after the president dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

The poll also indicates that Americans have high expectations for Trump when it comes to the economy.

‘While many Americans feel the current economy is not working well for them, residents nationally have grown more optimistic about the future of their own finances,’ the poll’s release highlighted.

The survey also indicated Americans are divided about Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

According to the poll, more than six in 10 disapprove of Trump’s pledge to pardon his supporters who were convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

The Marist poll was conducted Jan. 7-9, with 1,387 adults nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

The CNN poll was conducted Jan. 9-12, with 1,205 adults nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Government agencies are cautioning that President-elect Trump’s inauguration may attract violent extremists – especially those harboring ‘election-related grievances,’ according to a new report. 

While no specific credible threats have been identified, agencies like the FBI, Secret Service and Capitol Police authored a threat assessment asserting that extremists may view the inauguration as ‘their last opportunity to influence the election results through violence,’ Politico reports. 

The threat assessment identified foreign terrorists, domestic extremists or lone wolves who could pull off violent acts, including vehicle-ramming attacks, bomb hoaxes or swatting calls.

Likewise, law enforcement cited concerns about protests breaking into chaos, especially since certain groups who’ve faced arrests in previous protests have applied for demonstration permits. 

‘Past protests by some of these individuals have involved traffic blockades, trespassing, property destruction, and resisting arrest,’ the threat assessment said. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger cautioned Monday that ‘lone actors’ are the most serious threat to inauguration festivities, during a press conference with federal and local law enforcement officials about the inauguration.

‘The biggest threat, I think, for all of us remains the lone actor,’ Manger said. ‘Just in the past week, while President Carter was lying in state, we had two lone actors show up at the Capitol: one trying to bring in knives and a machete; another one who was trying – what I believe – to disrupt the proceedings by setting their car on fire down in the peace circle area.’ 

‘Capitol Police were able to interdict these folks before they had a chance to do any harm,’ Manger said. ‘But that threat of the lone actor remains the biggest justification for us being at this heightened state of alert throughout the next week.’

As a result, the inauguration will feature a beefed up law enforcement presence. Approximately 4,000 local law enforcement officers have volunteered to assist, and 7,800 National Guard soldiers will also be deployed. 

Matt McCool, the Secret Service’s special agent in charge of the agency’s Washington field office, said that altogether roughly 25,000 law enforcement officers will be working. McCool said this year’s inauguration plan features a ‘slightly more robust security plan,’ in comparison to President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. 

‘What I can tell you is that we are 100% confident in the plan that we have put in place for this inauguration that the public and our protectees will be safe,’ McCool said.

Additionally, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said it is bracing for 12 separate First Amendment demonstrations at the inauguration, noting that they will have a right to peacefully protest. Still, she said violence won’t be permitted.  

‘I want to reiterate – as I always have – that violence, destruction and unlawful behavior will not be tolerated,’ Smith said Monday. ‘Offenders will face swift and decisive consequences.’

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

Conservatives on social media celebrated President-elect Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi’s response to a question from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. 

‘It would not be appropriate for a prosecutor to start with a name and look for a crime?’ Whitehouse said during his line of questioning. ‘It’s a prosecutor’s job to start with a crime and look for a name. Correct?’

Bondi responded by highlighting the federal government’s investigations into Trump.

‘Senator, I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years and what’s been happening to Donald Trump,’ Bondi said. 

‘They targeted Donald Trump. They went after him, actually starting back in 2016. They targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him. That will not be the case. If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office,’ Bondi said. ‘I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country. Senator, we’ve got to bring this country back together. We’ve got to move forward, or we’re going to lose our country.’

Conservatives on social media quickly took notice of the exchange. 

‘Pam Bondi totally flips the script on Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D) who tried to make it seem like she will weaponize the DOJ,’ Florida’s Voice News assistant news director Eric Daughtery posted on X. ‘Masterclass.’

‘Pam Bondi is making Sheldon Whitehouse look stupid,’ Trump ’24 deputy rapid response director Greg Price posted on X. 

‘Senator Whitehouse unironically explaining that prosecutors should have a crime and then look for a suspect, not the other way around,’ Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich posted on X. 

‘Bondi responds by explaining DOJ did the opposite to Trump for years.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Whitehouse’s office but did not immediately receive a response.

Bondi is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and some have speculated that she will earn some votes from Democrats. 

Former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., was flanked by both sitting Wisconsin senators in a bipartisan show of support to kick off his Wednesday confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee.

Duffy, who served five terms after flipping a seat held by Democrat David Obey for decades, later moved on to work at Fox News; most recently co-hosting ‘The Bottom Line’ with Dagen McDowell on FOX Business.

‘I’m humbled by the fact that President Trump has nominated me to this very important position,’ Duffy said in his opening statement.

He also introduced the eight of his nine children present – as well as his wife, ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy.

He noted that his eldest son could not be in Washington on Wednesday, as he and his wife recently had a child and also live in Southern California, which is being ravaged by wildfires.

‘No federal agency impacts Americans’ daily lives and loved ones like the Department of Transportation,’ he said, adding that President-elect Donald Trump ‘is a builder’ and knows the importance of maintaining and building critical infrastructure. He also noted that Campos-Duffy survived a deadly head-on automobile collision, which brought highway safety to the forefront in his family.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., disclosed he too was involved in an accident with a drunk driver 30 years ago and does not like to talk about it.

Lujan appeared to get briefly emotional as he addressed Campos-Duffy in connecting over their shared experience – and praised Duffy for his stated goal to be remembered as a secretary who improved transportation safety.

Later in the hearing, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also stressed the importance of highway safety and disclosed he had been hit by a car at age 5.

Duffy also pledged to restore Americans’ trust in the airline industry amid some recent incidents, including problems at Boeing. ‘We want the best and the brightest air traffic controllers. We must modernize our systems with cutting edge technologies. I’ll work with Congress and the FAA to restore global confidence in Boeing, and to ensure that our skies are safe,’ he said.

Similarly, Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan noted the Last Frontier was not yet a state when President Dwight Eisenhower launched the federal interstate program – and that 251 communities in his state still are not connected by roads.

Duffy pledged support for the federal program that ensures essential air service to far-flung communities in Alaska and other sparsely-populated states.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., brought up the importance of making sure Hurricane Helene victims are ‘not forgotten.’

Blackburn noted Interstate 40 – a crucial transcontinental artery from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Barstow, California, remains washed out across the Great Smoky Mountains.

During the September hurricane, a stretch of the eastbound lanes in Haywood County, North Carolina, collapsed into the then-raging Pigeon River, stymieing regional commerce and access to mountain communities. Parts of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee continue to see long-term closures of major arteries and communities trying to rebuild.

‘We’re continuing to try to work through this process to get that rebuild, but we need to know this will be front and center with you so we can get that interstate rebuilt and reopened,’ Duffy told Blackburn.

He pledged to make his first official trip as secretary be one to the Helene-affected region of those states.

Speaking about support for alternative transportation means, ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., noted at one point that the monthly cost to own a car can be as high as $1,000, while riding public transit averages $100 per month.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said one issue that the Department of Transportation must address is the lack of means for electric vehicle drivers to pay into the highway trust fund. At present, taxes on gasoline are the main component of that revenue source.

Duffy responded that there should be a method through which green vehicles help fund the roads they drive on.

In a light moment partway through the hearing, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, made mention of Duffy potentially visiting the Aloha State, to which Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joked that it may be a good junket for the entire panel.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., asked Duffy to bring attention to passenger rail service in the Heartland, remarking that many times the primary focus has been on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional – which runs between Newport News, Virginia, and Boston.

He mentioned the Southwest Chief, a key two-day run between Chicago and Los Angeles, and how it is key to his state.

Additionally, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim discussed recent mysterious drone sightings across the Garden State, as well as regional transit issues plaguing New York City suburbs.

The Biden administration is facing pushback from both sides of the political aisle for moving to cross Cuba off of the state sponsors of terrorism list.

The U.S. slapped Cuba with the designation in 2021 shortly before then-President Donald Trump left office. 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that the administration is ‘taking several steps to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihood of Cubans.’ 

‘First, today we notified Congress that President Biden determined Cuba should no longer be designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism,’ she continued. 

‘Secondly, we notified Congress that the President issued a waiver for Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, otherwise known as the Libertad Act, for a period of six months.  Finally, President Biden rescinded the 2017 National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on Cuba policy to eliminate the so-called ‘restricted list’ and by extension the additional regulations on engagement by U.S. persons and entities with Cuban persons and entities, beyond that which is currently prescribed in U.S. legislation,’ she noted. ‘We have also been informed by the Catholic Church that the Cuban government will soon begin releasing a substantial number of political prisoners.’

Democrats are divided on the matter.

The chair of the Florida Democratic Party urged the administration to ‘reverse course immediately.’

‘I am disappointed at the Biden Administration’s plan to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,’ Nikki Fried said in a statement shared on the Florida Democratic Party’s X feed. ‘We condemn in the strongest terms Cuba’s removal from this list, as well as any possible lifting of economic sanctions, and call on the Biden Administration to reverse course immediately.’

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., also disagreed with the administration’s decision.

‘Do the majority of Cuban Americans support the removal of Cuba, an adversary of the US, from the list of state sponsors of terrorism? If the answer is ‘no,’ then why is the Biden Administration unnecessarily alienating Cuban Americans? I agree with the Florida Democratic Party here,’ the congressman posted.

Rep. Cathy Castor, D-Fla., declared in a statement, ‘Autocratic Cuba has failed its people, and I disagree with the President that sanctions should be lifted without an end to the Cuban regime’s repression.’

Some Florida Republicans have leveled fierce criticism.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., decried Biden’s decision as ‘pathetic and cowardly.’ 

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., declared in a post, ‘Once again, the Democrats have BETRAYED the Cubans! Shame on the entire Biden Administration for taking Cuba off the State Sponsor of Terrorism list. Cuba is a LEADING sponsor of Terrorism, harboring, training & enabling Hamas, Hezbollah & other terrorist enemies of the USA.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also blasted the administration.

‘The Biden Administration continues on its quest to leave as much wreckage behind on its way out the door as possible. Cuba should not be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,’ he declared in a post on X.

However, some Democrats have applauded the administration.

‘I welcome the Biden administration’s steps to remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list – a long overdue action that will help normalize relations with our neighbor,’ Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in a statement.