MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds 47% of adults approve of the way the United States Supreme Court is handling its job, while 53% disapprove. In May, 46% approved and 54% disapproved.
Approval has remained below 50% since November 2025, after an approval rating consistently above 50% for the first half of 2025, including a high of 54% in March 2025.
Approval of the Court varies substantially across party lines, with 74% of Republicans approving of the Court, while 35% of independents and 22% of Democrats approve. Among Republicans, there has been a gradual decline in approval of the Court from 84% in February 2025 to 74% now. Approval among independents has also declined from 46% in February 2025 to 35% now, though approval has recovered from a low of 26% in January 2026. Approval among Democrats was as high as 31% in March and May 2025 but has held in the high teens to low 20s since then, standing at 22% in this July survey. Approval by party in 2025 and 2026 is shown in Figure 1, and the percentage values are shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Approval of U.S. Supreme Court, by party identification
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Among adults
| Date | Approval | |||
| All adults | Republican | Independent | Democrat | |
| 7/22-29/26 | 47 | 74 | 35 | 22 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 46 | 76 | 39 | 20 |
| 4/8-16/26 | 42 | 70 | 29 | 19 |
| 1/21-28/26 | 44 | 78 | 26 | 17 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 44 | 74 | 33 | 17 |
| 9/15-24/25 | 50 | 81 | 43 | 19 |
| 7/7-16/25 | 49 | 81 | 45 | 18 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 53 | 78 | 43 | 31 |
| 3/17-27/25 | 54 | 79 | 45 | 31 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | 51 | 84 | 46 | 19 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National surveys, latest: July 22-29, 2026 | ||||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job? | ||||
The survey was conducted July 22-29, 2026, interviewing 1,076 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.2 percentage points.
Both party and political ideology are related to approval of the Supreme Court. Republicans who consider themselves very conservative are more approving than Republicans who are not very conservative, while Democrats who describe themselves as very liberal are more disapproving than those Democrats who do not see themselves as very liberal. Independents fall between the parties, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Supreme Court approval, by party identification and ideology
Among adults
| Party & ideology | Approval | |
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| All adults | 47 | 53 |
| Republican, very conservative | 84 | 16 |
| Republican, not very conservative | 70 | 30 |
| Independent | 35 | 65 |
| Democrat, not very liberal | 27 | 73 |
| Democrat, very liberal | 5 | 95 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National survey, July 22-29, 2026 | ||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job? | ||
The administration of President Donald Trump has been a frequent party to disputes before the Supreme Court during his second term, with the president also often commenting on the Court. Despite Trump’s criticisms of the Court and losses in some major decisions, approval of Trump is linked to approval of the Court.
Among Republicans who approve of how Trump is handling his job, 82% approve of the Supreme Court, while among Republicans who disapprove of Trump, 43% approve of the Court. There are too few independents and Democrats who approve of how Trump is handling his job to reliably estimate the analogous comparisons. Combining both independents and Democrats who approve of Trump, 75% approve of the Court, while among independents who disapprove of Trump 27% approve of the Court, and among Democrats who disapprove of Trump 17% approve of how the Court is handling its job.
Republicans are more likely to say the Court rules for Trump rarely or never than are independents. Among Democrats, more than 70% say the Court rules for Trump often or fairly often.
Among all adults, the percentage saying the Court rules for Trump often or fairly often declined from 61% in May to 55% in July, following the end of the Supreme Court term in which some prominent decisions rejected Trump administration arguments. Among Republicans, this fell from 45% to 37%, while independents rose slightly from 47% to 49% and Democrats declined slightly from 79% to 77%. These results are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: How often Court rules for Trump, by party identification
Among adults
| Poll dates | Court rules for Trump | |
| Often/Fairly often | Rarely/Never | |
| All adults | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 55 | 45 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 61 | 39 |
| Republican | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 37 | 63 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 45 | 55 |
| Independent | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 49 | 51 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 47 | 53 |
| Democrat | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 77 | 23 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 79 | 21 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National surveys, latest: July 22-29, 2026 | ||
| Question: Since the beginning of his second term, how often do you think the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration in cases that have reached the Court? | ||
Among Republicans, perceptions of how often the Court rules for the Trump administration is not related to approval of the Court, while approval of the Court rises among independents and Democrats who think the Court rarely or never sides with the administration, as shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Approval of the Court, by how often it rules for Trump and by party
Among adults
| How often rules for Trump | Approval | |
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Republican | ||
| Often/Fairly often | 74 | 26 |
| Rarely/Never | 74 | 26 |
| Independent | ||
| Often/Fairly often | 20 | 80 |
| Rarely/Never | 50 | 50 |
| Democrat | ||
| Often/Fairly often | 17 | 83 |
| Rarely/Never | 37 | 62 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National survey, July 22-29, 2026 | ||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job? | ||
| Question: Since the beginning of his second term, how often do you think the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration in cases that have reached the Court? | ||
Among all adults, 54% say the Court is going out of its way to avoid a ruling Trump might refuse to obey, while 46% say the Court is not avoiding such a decision. This perception has remained fairly stable through the second Trump term, though it declined 3 percentage points from May to July.
This perception of the Court varies substantially by party, with 32% of Republicans saying the Court is avoiding such a ruling, as do 55% of independents and 76% of Democrats. For independents and Democrats, this percentage declined 5 and 4 percentage points, respectively, from May to July. These results during the second Trump term are shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Is Court avoiding ruling against Trump, by party identification
Among adults
| Poll dates | Avoiding ruling | |||
| All adults | Republican | Independent | Democrat | |
| 7/22-29/26 | 54 | 32 | 55 | 76 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 57 | 33 | 60 | 80 |
| 4/8-16/26 | 57 | 33 | 66 | 79 |
| 1/21-28/26 | 57 | 34 | 59 | 78 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 56 | 37 | 58 | 74 |
| 9/15-24/25 | 55 | 31 | 58 | 81 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National surveys, latest: July 22-29, 2026 | ||||
| Question: Do you think the U.S. Supreme Court is going out of its way to avoid making a ruling that President Donald Trump might refuse to obey? | ||||
The perception that the justices are motivated mainly by politics stands at 58% in July, with 42% saying the justices are mainly motivated by the law. The belief that politics is the main motivation rose by 6 percentage points from May to July. Partisanship plays a substantial role in this belief, with a majority of Republicans saying justices are motivated by the law, while majorities of independents and especially of Democrats say that politics is the main motivation. The perception that politics is the motive rose among all three partisan groups from May to July, as shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Motivation of justices’ decisions, by party identification
Among adults
| Poll dates | Motivation | |
| Mainly politics | Mainly the law | |
| All adults | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 58 | 42 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 52 | 48 |
| Republican | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 43 | 57 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 36 | 64 |
| Independent | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 59 | 41 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 57 | 43 |
| Democrat | ||
| 7/22-29/26 | 74 | 26 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 67 | 33 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, National surveys, latest: July 22-29, 2026 | ||
| Question: In general, what most often motivates Supreme Court justices’ decisions? | ||
Executive and congressional power
A number of cases in the October 2025 Supreme Court term and in recent years concern the extent of executive power over departments and independent agencies, as well as the ability of Congress to delegate decisions to agencies. Justice Neil Gorsuch has written in recent opinions about how difficult it can be for Congress to reclaim authority once it has been delegated. The Court has ruled for extensive presidential authority over the executive branch and independent agencies in the term that just ended. The public has some ideas about these issues.
A plurality of adults, 45%, say the next president should have less control over departments and agencies than today, with 36% saying the president should have about as much control as today and 18% saying he should have more control over the executive branch.
Partisans differ in their views of executive powers. Most Republicans favor current powers, though 25% say presidents should have more control. A plurality of independents, 46%, favor less control, as do 72% of Democrats, while 21% of independents and just 9% of Democrats favor more powers. These results are shown in Table 7.
Table 7: Presidential control over agencies, by party identification
Among adults
| Population | Presidential control | ||
| More control over departments and agencies | Less control over departments and agencies | About as much control as today | |
| All adults | 18 | 45 | |
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