Republicans and Democrats Agree on This

They view the Supreme Court evenly, and not especially well
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 28, 2021 8:32 AM CDT
Republicans and Democrats Agree on This
In this April 23, 2021, file photo, members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington.   (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Just 49% of Americans approve of the performance of the Supreme Court, down from 58%—a 10-year high—a year ago. That's according to a Gallup poll conducted from July 6 to 21 and released Wednesday. It brings the court's first approval rating below 50% since 2017, per CNN. That year, Gallup cited "a wide gap in partisan views of the court," per the Washington Post. This time, the approval rating was the same among Democrats and Republicans at 51%, but 46% among independents, per USA Today. In previous years, opinions have been more divided. For example, in 2015, when the court upheld the Affordable Care Act and legalized same-sex marriage, 76% of Democrats approved, compared to 18% of Republicans. In 2018, following President Trump's Supreme Court nominations, 72% of Republicans approved, compared to 38% of Democrats.

The latest rating follows a busy term which saw the court reject a third challenge to the Affordable Care Act, considered a win for Democrats, and uphold Arizona election laws that a lower court had ruled as discriminatory, seen as a victory for Republicans. "The mix of rulings may have helped keep Republicans from viewing the court as a conservative ally, or Democrats from perceiving it as too ideologically extreme," which would be notable "given that the court now has six justices nominated by Republican presidents compared with three nominated by Democratic presidents," Gallup said. Some 57% of moderates and 52% of conservatives said they approved of the court, compared to a third of liberals, per the Post. More than 60% of liberals said they disapproved—well above the national disapproval rate of 44%. The margin of error rate is plus or minus 4 percentage points. (More US Supreme Court stories.)

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