Republicans lead Democrats by 9 points in a generic congressional vote 48%-39% entering the midterm election year, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports polling.
The same poll has President Joe Biden's approval rating under water, with 58% disapproving his performance since his inauguration a year ago Thursday.
Biden's slide in 2021 began around the time of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in mid-August, and has continued sharply downward since.
Rasmussen Reports said Tuesday that Democrats held an 8-point advantage just before taking back the majority in the House during the 2018 midterm elections, but that margin slimmed to a statistical dead heat with Republicans leading 46%-45% when the Democrats won their slim House majority, while the GOP retained control of the Senate in that election.
The Rasmussen survey, giving the GOP a 9-point advantage, was conducted with 2,500 likely voters between Jan. 9-13, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
The Hill reported in December that Democrats are worried they will lose their slim House majority and possibly control of the Senate in a red wave this November.
"I'm very confident that we're going to take back the House," Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who represents a suburban swing district near Omaha, told The Hill. "I think that on the key issues right now, all the energy is on our side. And when I look at all the polling data, it matches what I see in the district, voters are concerned about inflation, crime, the border, Afghanistan, and all those issues are in our favor."