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The United States Supreme Court’s approval rating dropped among Republicans in a new Gallup poll after its most recent term, in which it handed down several rulings related to President Donald Trump.
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.
Approval of the Supreme Court among all groups reached a record low of 33 percent in the new poll, down from 42 percent in September 2025.
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Polling shows that Americans view the Supreme Court more unfavorably than in the past. Its approval among Democrats took a major blow in 2022 after a majority of justices overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed reproductive rights nationwide, but the new poll found that Republicans are increasingly turning on the High Court.
Fifty-eight percent of Republicans said they approved of the Supreme Court in the new poll, down from a "near record high" of 79 percent in June 2025, according to Gallup.
“This decline may indicate that rulings unfavorable to the Trump administration this term, such as those on tariffs and birthright citizenship, weigh more heavily in Republicans’ evaluations of the court than the rulings that favored Trump and the GOP,” Gallup editor Jeffrey M. Jones wrote in the report.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court’s public information office for comment via email.
How Supreme Court Approval Compares to Past Years
Never in a Gallup poll has the Supreme Court’s approval rating hit such a low point. It’s a continuation of a trend, as 2025’s 39 percent approval was also a record low. Views toward the Supreme Court were much higher even just a few years ago in 2020, when 58 percent of Americans said they approved of the court.
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By September 2021, that number had fallen to only 40 percent; it has struggled to improve its popularity since then.
Republicans have viewed the Supreme Court more favorably than Democrats in recent years. Conservatives do, after all, make up a 6-3 majority on the bench. In the most recent poll, only 12 percent of Democrats said they approve of the Supreme Court—down from 14 percent in September 2025 but not quite at the record low of 11 percent in July 2025.
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.
Justices have sounded the alarm about eroding public opinion toward the court.
In May, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal justice, said the Supreme Court overturning lower court rulings is often not doing the country “a service with that kind of procedure.”
“To the extent that ruling has a real world impact, which we've seen recently a lot, that when the Supreme Court makes these kinds of decisions, they're sometimes in cases that involve the dismantling of the Department of Education or the firing of workers or the termination of federal grants,” she said. “These are real world consequences that are occurring, and no one really has a clear sense of why it's happening or what the court's reasoning is.”
Supreme Court’s Mixed Rulings on Donald Trump
For many Trump-aligned Republicans, the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling may have been a disappointment. The Court ruled 6-3 against the administration's efforts to end birthright citizenship. It was a direct blow to a Trump executive order aimed at ending the practice.
The Court also ruled against Trump on tariffs, holding that he lacked authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It also blocked Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
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Those three rulings mark clear checks on Trump’s executive authority issued by the Court.
But the Court has also issued more favorable rulings to Trump and Republicans, siding with the administration’s position on issues like transgender athletes’ inclusion in sports and other issues of executive authority.
The Court also enraged many on the left after it struck down Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana v. Callais, which redefined—and many argue weakened—the Voting Rights Act. Several Republican-led states like Alabama and Tennessee redrew their maps to eliminate majority-Black seats in the wake of the ruling.
Trump has at times criticized the Supreme Court over its rulings.
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In March, after justices overturned his administration’s tariff policy, he wrote in a post to Truth Social that justices he had appointed “openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them to the highest position in the Land."
“This completely inept and embarrassing Court was not what the Supreme Court of the United States was set up by our wonderful Founders to be. They are hurting our Country, and will continue to do so,” he wrote.
What Do Other Polls Show About Supreme Court Approval?
Other polls have also shown that Supreme Court approval remains low. In the latest survey from The Washington Post and Ipsos, 41 percent of respondents approved of the court, compared with 55 percent who disapproved. It surveyed 2,648 adults from July 8-13, 2026.
That’s the highest percent of respondents saying they disapprove of the Court in the poll’s history.
In September 2021, 40 percent of respondents approved of the Court, compared with 53 percent who disapproved.
One decade earlier in July 2016, 42 percent of Americans approved of the Court, compared to 52 percent who disapproved in the poll.
Meanwhile, a YouGov poll found that 38 percent of Americans approve of the Supreme Court, compared with 45 percent who disapprove.
It also found broad support for new measures regulating the Supreme Court, including 79 percent supporting an ethics code, 74 percent supporting term limits and 51 percent supporting a two-thirds supermajority of senators for confirmation.
It surveyed 1,127 adults from May 4-6, 2026.
Thomas, Alito Have Faced Ethics Concerns in Recent Years
In 2023, ProPublica reported that Justice Clarence Thomas and other justices accepted vacations and luxury gifts from GOP megadonors for decades, without disclosure to the court. Thomas had allegedly accepted gifts ranging from private jet flights and private school payments from donor Harlan Crow. He also drew scrutiny after his wife reportedly sent texts to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Justice Samuel Alito faced criticism after his wife was accused of flying an upside-down American flag—a symbol used by some Trump supporters to show support for the president's unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen—outside their home.
What’s Next for the Supreme Court?
Although the Court has wrapped up its major decisions for the current term, attention is already shifting to the next docket. The justices will return for a new term in October, with several potentially consequential cases already slated for review. Upcoming disputes touch on issues including gun rights, climate-change litigation, Title IX employment protections, federal regulatory authority, and the scope of constitutional protections in civil and criminal cases.
Among the cases drawing early attention are Viramontes v. Cook County, which asks whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the possession of AR-15-style rifles, and Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder County, which could determine whether states and local governments may pursue climate-related claims against energy companies in state court.
The Court is also set to hear Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, a case that could clarify whether employees of federally funded educational institutions can sue under Title IX for sex discrimination in employment. Other pending cases address federal agency powers, property rights, sentencing guidelines, and the reach of environmental regulations.
Oral arguments for the new term are scheduled to begin in October, meaning the coming months will offer the first indication of how the Court may approach another year of high-profile legal and political disputes.
As for the approval rating measurement via Gallup, it's not set in stone when the next poll will take place, but historically, Gallup has measured the Supreme Court's approval rating twice a year. If the trend holds true, they'll poll again in the fall.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas
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