Poll: Majority supports budget deal

A majority of the public approves of the budget deal hashed out last week, according to a new poll. 

An ABC-Washington Post poll released Tuesday found 50 percent approve of the agreement while 35 percent disapprove. The other 15 percent had no opinion of the deal. 

Sixty-one percent of Democrats approve of it as well as 52 percent of independents. Republicans are split, as 39 percent approve of the deal while 36 percent disapprove. The rest are undecided. 

{mosads}The agreement reached by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) last week overwhelmingly passed the House, and is set to be voted on in the Senate this week. 

It seems poised to pass the upper chamber as a number of Republicans have agreed to advance the bill in recent days. 

The deal would replace $63 billion in sequestration cuts over the next two years while raising the top-line budget number to just over $1 trillion in each of the next two years. 

According to the poll, the public trusts congressional Republicans ahead of President Obama on balancing the budget, 48 percent to 40 percent — an 11-point change since the government shutdown in October.  

The poll surveyed 1,005 people and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. 

—Updated at 9:20 a.m.