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The Supreme Court's approval rating remains underwater in a new poll, with Republicans and Democrats divided over whether the court frequently sides with President Donald Trump and if the justices are driven primarily by politics or the law.
A Marquette Law School Poll found that 47 percent of adults approve of the way the Supreme Court is handling its job, while 53 percent disapprove. Approval has remained below 50 percent in the center's polls since November 2025, continuing a stretch of low public confidence in the highest court in the nation**.**
The survey also highlighted deep partisan divisions in perceptions of the High Court. While Democrats overwhelmingly said the justices rule in favor of Trump "almost always" or "most of the time," Republicans were more likely to say the court sides with the president only some of the time or almost never.
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“Democrats have lost almost all sense of positivity toward the Court, and it has eaten into their views that the Court is operating in good faith,” Nicholas Davis, political science professor at the University of Alabama, told Newsweek on Thursday.
He continued, “When that happens, a push for reform among political elites likely follows. Historically, that has been political territory that most Democratic candidates have delicately danced around, but that could very well be changing.”
The court's members have acknowledged concerns about declining public confidence and have maintained that justices must decide cases based on their interpretation of the law rather than public opinion.
“I would like Americans to trust the institution of the court,” Supreme Court Justice Amy Barrett said at an event to promote her book in September 2025, calling it “an institution that does operate with integrity.”
She added, “I’m not saying that the court always gets it right. … I don’t think the court is above criticism or that I am above criticism or anything like that. But I do think Americans should trust that the court is trying to get it right.”
The Supreme Court has faced eroding public trust in recent years, with an increasing number of Americans questioning its impartiality. Its most recent term saw rulings that angered both progressives, including a ruling many critics say weakened the Voting Rights Act, and conservatives, such as siding against Trump on his efforts to end birthright citizenship. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump during his first term: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett. The court is on recess until October.
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What the New Poll Shows
The Marquette Law School poll of 1,076 adults found that 47 percent approve of the Supreme Court's job performance, up slightly from 46 percent in May.
There has been a broader decline in public confidence since early 2025. Approval reached 54 percent in March 2025, shortly after Trump returned to office, before falling to 53 percent in May 2025, 49 percent in July 2025 and 44 percent in November 2025. It reached a low of 42 percent in April 2026 before edging back up in recent months.
The court remains somewhat less popular than it was during some periods of Trump's first administration. Gallup polling found a 49 percent approval rating in September 2017, which climbed to 58 percent by July 2020 before beginning a decline that has largely continued in the years since.
Views of the Supreme Court remain deeply divided along partisan lines. The Marquette poll found that 74 percent of Republicans approve of the court's performance, compared with 35 percent of independents and 22 percent of Democrats.
But even among Republicans, approval has slipped from 84 percent in February 2025 to 74 percent today.
The survey also found a stark partisan divide in perceptions of the court's relationship with Trump. While 77 percent of Democrats said the court rules in Trump's favor "almost always" or "most of the time," only 37 percent of Republicans believe so.
Recent polling suggests that “the Court is now viewed by a large segment of the public as a partisan backstop for Republicans rather than a ‘neutral’ institution governed by agnostic legal rules,” Davis also told Newsweek.
In total, about 55 percent of those surveyed believe the High Court rules often or fairly often for Trump, down from 61 percent in May.
The survey also found the public divided over what motivates the justices' decisions. A majority, 58 percent, said politics is the primary driver of the court's rulings, while about 42 percent said its decisions are motivated mainly by the law. In May, about 52 percent said they felt rulings were mainly driven by politics and 48 percent by law.
Among Republicans, 43 percent say mainly politics, an uptick from 36 percent in May, while 74 percent of Democrats believe so and 59 percent of independents, both up from May. The poll was conducted from July 22 to July 29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
Davis added that “approval is not the same thing as legitimacy” and an “institution can weather periods of (extreme) displeasure without fear of ‘losing’ the proverbial fan base, but if that institution angers folks for too long and too consistently, then you run the risk of that disapproval eating into support for that institution to exist in its current shape.”
Among the nine Supreme Court justices, Gorsuch has the lowest favorability rating, 16 percent, followed by Barrett, 18 percent. The poll found Justice Sonia Sotomayor with the highest favorability rating, 29 percent, followed by Justice Clarence Thomas at 28 percent.
Supreme Court Approval Rating Trends
A recent Pew Research Center poll found that about 53 percent of Americans currently have an unfavorable opinion of the High Court, with 45 percent holding a favorable one.
The survey, conducted from July 6 to July 12, shows a favorability rating of 20 percentage points lower than in April 2021, when 65 percent held a positive view. Only about 25 percent of Democrats have a favorable opinion of the court, while 69 percent of Republicans do, according to the Pew poll.
Democratic approval of the court fell sharply after the 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed reproductive rights nationwide, according to public polling trends.
The poll found that 43 percent of Americans view the court as conservative, 44 percent as “middle of the road” and 9 percent as liberal. The survey included responses from 3,554 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
In a July Gallup poll, approval of the Supreme Court among all groups reached a record low of 33 percent, down from 42 percent in September 2025. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans said they approved of the Supreme Court in the Gallup poll, down from a "near record high" of 79 percent in June 2025, according to Gallup.
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Republicans have viewed the Supreme Court more favorably than Democrats in recent years. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. In the most recent poll, only 12 percent of Democrats said they approve of the court—down from 14 percent in September 2025 but not quite at the record low of 11 percent in July 2025.
Neal Devins, law and government professor at William & Mary Law School, told Newsweek in a Thursday email, “Trump embraced the conservative legal movement when campaigning for president the first time. So, of course, it is not surprising that Americans today often see the court as being divided along party lines and being simply another partisan branch of government.”
July 2016 was the last time Democrats viewed the court more favorably than Republicans. At the time, 60 percent of Democrats said they approved of the Supreme Court, compared to just 32 percent of Republicans in Gallup polling.
Devins said the effects of Trump's appointments of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett during his first term are likely being felt more strongly in his second term, as the three conservatives have had time to establish themselves on the court.
Public Opinion of Congress and Executive Branch
The Marquette Law Poll also evaluated participants' views on executive and congressional power, finding that 45 percent believe the next president should have less control over departments and agencies than today. About a third, 36 percent, say the president should have about as much control as today and 18 percent think he should have more control over the executive branch.
With regards to Congress, less than a third of adults, 31 percent, believe it has done its job, while 69 percent think it has relinquished power to the president and executive branch. About half of Republicans, 48 percent, said it has done its job, while only 15 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of independents think so. Republicans currently hold a majority in both the House and Senate.
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What’s Next?
As the Supreme Court's approval ratings remain below majority support, some legal scholars say the debate over court reform will likely intensify.
Davis said that “support for reforming the institution seems likely to increase,” adding, “as the Democratic-leaning public has come to consistently view the Court with low regard, they are now expressing more support for reforming it.”
Others don't foresee institutional reform, even if Democrats regain control of Congress.
“My best guess is there will not be structural reform to the court even if the Democrats take charge and the court will continue to be seen as partisan, but people will follow its orders,” Devins said.
The comments come as proposals to reshape the Supreme Court remain part of the broader political debate. Reform advocates have pushed measures such as 18-year term limits for justices and stronger ethics rules, while others have advocated expanding the court or altering its jurisdiction. Supporters argue such changes would enhance accountability, while critics contend they could threaten the court's independence.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Edward T. Cummins.
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