After riding high his first six months, President Joe Biden has seen his approval rating steadily decline since June, with numbers plummeting after a tumultuous August rocked by soaring COVID-19 cases at home and a chaotic military pullout from Afghanistan. Biden's job approval dipped below 50% in several polls for the first time last month, and this week brought new lows: Gallup found Biden's approval rating has fallen to 43%, a 6-percentage point drop since August and the lowest of his presidency. A new Pew Research Center survey released Thursday has Biden's approval rating at 44%. For the first time, both polls found a majority of Americans, 53%, disapprove of Biden's job performance. "We can safely say that he's no longer in his honeymoon phase," said Megan Brenan, a senior analyst at Gallup. Biden's fall comes as his social safety-net and climate agenda are in peril as progressive and moderate Democrats battle over its size and scope. In 14 months, Democrats are at risk of losing control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. Perhaps most troubling for Biden: His support among independent voters – who helped carry him to victory over Donald Trump in last year's election – has cratered. Gallup found 37% of independents approve of Biden's job performance, a sharp 24-point drop form his personal high of 61%. He's lost the support of two-thirds of these independent detractors in just the last three months. Here are five reasons why Biden's approval rating has reached a new bottom. #biden #politics #joebiden #presidentbiden