FiveThirtyEight’s top politics stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular In Politics] Thursday, January 28, 2021 [1. Is The Presidential Honeymoon Over?]( [President Biden Seeks Immediate Help For Millions As Big Stimulus At Risk]( While some observers claim that President Biden will offer Americans a “return to normalcy” after four years of now-former President Trump in the White House, it’s difficult to know at this point which aspects of the political landscape may be changed forever. For instance, it’s unclear whether Biden will enjoy a “honeymoon,” the first few months in office when new presidents typically garner high marks for their job performance. [Read more]( [2. Biden’s Initial Batch Of Executive Actions Is Popular]( [President Biden Signs Executive Order After Delivering Remarks On American Manufacturing]( The slew of executive actions that President Biden started off his presidency with are popular with the public, according to two recent polls. [Read more]( [3. What All Those GOP Retirements Mean For The 2022 Senate Map]( [Janet Yellen Confirmation Hearing For Treasury Secretary Before Senate Finance Committee]( It’s only January 2021, but three Republican senators have already announced their intentions to retire in 2022. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said back in 2016 that his current term would be his last, and Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania revealed last October that he would not run for reelection either. Then, on Monday morning, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio joined them, saying in a statement that “[I]t has gotten harder and harder to break through the partisan gridlock and make progress on substantive policy.” [Read more]( [4. How We’re Tracking Joe Biden’s Approval Rating]( [BIDEN_APPROVAL-story-4×3]( If it’s possible to sum up a presidency in a single number, that number would be the president’s approval rating — or the share of Americans who approve of the job he’s doing. Arguably, that simple percentage can determine the fate of an entire presidency. [Read more]( [5. How The Frost Belt And Sun Belt Illustrate The Complexity Of America’s Urban-Rural Divide]( [SWINGS-4×3]( There’s little question that the 2020 presidential election further cemented America’s urban-rural political divide. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Forecasts How popular is Donald Trump? [How popular is Donald Trump?]( [See all polls]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: The Lawmakers Who Will Determine What Gets Through Congress]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.