The U.S. Supreme Court’s approval rating remains near a historic low, new polling has found.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, half of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of the Supreme Court. This is 22 percentage points lower than in August 2020 when 70 percent of Americans had a positive opinion about the court.
Why It Matters
With responsibility for the final say in legal issues, the Supreme Court is a vitally important institution in American politics. If trust in the institution erodes this will have a negative effect on public life more generally, calling into question the impartiality of the justice system.
What To Know
The Pew Research Survey of 3,554 people was conducted between August 4 and 10. The margin of error was +/- 1.8 percentage points.
It also found partisan divides. Some 26 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they viewed the court favorably, while 71 percent of Republicans had a positive opinion.
The polling comes as the conservative-leaning court has faced criticism for appearing to side with President Donald Trump. Between April and July, the Court ruled in Trump’s favor 16 consecutive times.
Just this week, Trump has called on the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that found the president’s broad, global tariffs to be illegal.
Individual justices have come under scrutiny, like Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, who faced a backlash for accepting undisclosed gifts from a Republican megadonor.
Justice Samuel Alito was also criticized in 2024 when it was revealed that an upside-down American flag—associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud—was flown outside his home days after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to prevent certification of Biden’s election victory.
Alito said that his wife displayed the flag.
Meanwhile, a July YouGov poll found similar ill-feeling towards the court. Some 28 percent of respondents said they believe the court is “impartial in its decisions,” while 53 percent believe the court “tended to favor one group more than another.”
What People Are Saying
Kate Shaw, a legal scholar and former clerk for former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, told The New York Times‘ that the Supreme Court has increasingly behaved as a partisan institution in rulings that have benefited Trump: “I have long resisted—and I’m finding it harder to resist—really reductive, partisan explanations for their conduct.
“In particular, all they have done to shore up his presidency in the dark of night, where they are not going to be held accountable by the public for doing it. I think there is a lot of additional evidence that they really just are partisan justices in support of Donald Trump.”
President Donald Trump signaled a Supreme Court appeal in a Truth Social post after the ruling on tariffs: “ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong. Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
What Happens Next
Whether public opinion about the Supreme Court shifts remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is currently in recess, and the new term will begin in October.
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