Supreme Court Job Approval Slumps to Record Low of 33%, Signaling Crisis of Institutional Trust

Thirty-three percent. That is the share of the American public that currently approves of the United States Supreme Court, marking the lowest level of institutional confidence recorded in the 26-year history of Gallup's tracking. Disapproval has simultaneously surged to a record 61%, cementing a profound erosion of trust in the nation's highest judicial body.[1]

The precipitous drop from the previous low of 39% is driven not by a new wave of progressive outrage, but by a sudden collapse in support among Republicans. For years, the Court's 6-3 conservative majority enjoyed a robust floor of support from conservative voters, peaking near 79% last fall. That floor has now fractured, falling 21 points to 58%.[1][2]

The catalyst for this conservative defection stems from the Court's recently concluded 2025-2026 term, which delivered a series of high-profile defeats to the Trump administration. The justices struck down executive orders aimed at ending automatic birthright citizenship and invalidated the administration's sweeping emergency tariffs, ruling that the executive branch lacked the congressional authorization to impose them.[2][3]

The Court also blocked the administration's attempt to immediately remove Federal Reserve Board governor Lisa Cook, citing constitutional due process grounds, and allowed states to continue counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. These rulings directly thwarted key policy priorities of the executive branch, alienating a base that had previously viewed the conservative majority as a reliable ally.[3]

The Court did hand the executive branch several structural victories. The justices expanded presidential removal power over independent agency officials and upheld state-level restrictions on transgender athletes in women's sports. However, polling indicates that the high-profile defeats weighed far more heavily in conservative evaluations of the Court than the rulings that favored the administration.[1][2]

On the other side of the partisan divide, Democratic approval remains stagnant at a near-historic low of 12%. Progressive dissatisfaction is deeply entrenched, rooted in the Court's long-term trajectory rather than a single term.[1][4]

Critics on the left point to the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, decisions limiting the Voting Rights Act, and recent rulings granting broad presidential immunity for official acts as evidence of an ideological agenda. For these voters, the Court's recent checks on executive power do not offset the structural rightward shift of the judiciary.[5]

Independent voters, often a bellwether for broader institutional trust, have also largely abandoned the Court. Only 35% of independents currently express approval of the institution's job performance, reflecting a broader societal skepticism toward federal institutions.[1]

Polling from the Pew Research Center corroborates the Gallup findings, noting that favorable views of the Court are at a three-decade low. Pew found that 53% of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of the Court, with majorities increasingly viewing the institution as ideologically driven rather than a neutral arbiter of the law.[4]

A separate survey by the Marquette Law School Poll presents a structural paradox: while overall approval sits firmly below 50%, majorities of the public actually supported the specific outcomes of 11 of the 13 major decisions from the recent term.[6]

This divergence suggests that the crisis of confidence is less about individual case outcomes and more about the perception of the Court's legitimacy. The institution is increasingly viewed through a strictly partisan lens, where its authority is questioned by the left due to its composition and by the right when it fails to deliver preferred policy outcomes.[4][6]

The result is an isolated judiciary. Without the reliable backing of the conservative base and facing entrenched hostility from progressives, the Supreme Court enters its next term navigating a deeply polarized electorate and a profound crisis of institutional trust.[1][5]