Americans’ approval of Supreme Court near historic low: Gallup

Americans’ approval rating of the Supreme Court is nearing a historic low, according to new polling from Gallup.

The new Gallup poll found 43 percent of Americans approve of how the nation’s highest court is performing its job, while 52 percent said they disapproved. The approval rating is just shy of the record-low recorded in September 2021, when 40 percent said they approved.

Gallup noted that since September 2021, the Supreme Court has not seen an approval rating of higher than 43 percent.

The court received its highest rating of 62 percent in 2000 and 2001. Between 2000 and 2001, Gallup said majorities of Americans approved of the court in nearly every poll taken.

The latest poll found that Republicans were more likely to approve of the court than Democrats, likely due to the conservative majority on the bench. Sixty-six percent of Republicans approved, while just 15 percent of Democrats said they did. Forty-four percent of independents said they approved of the court.

The poll results come as President Biden unveiled reform proposals to the Supreme Court on Monday that include imposing term limits on the justices, a binding code of ethics and a constitutional amendment to counteract the justices’ recent presidential immunity decision.

Biden’s decision to back these reforms came after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that core presidential powers are immune from criminal prosecution. Biden took aim at the “extreme opinions” at the Supreme Court during remarks about his proposals on Monday.

“I have great respect for our institutions, the separation of powers laid out in our Constitution,” Biden said. “What’s happening now is not consistent with that doctrine of separation of powers. Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court’s decisions.”   

The Gallup poll was conducted July 1-21 among 1,010 adults in the U.S. and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.