Gallup: Supreme Court job approval hits record low 13% among Democrats

A new Gallup poll finds that a record low 13% of Democrats approve of the Supreme Court, down 23 points from last year in the wake of recent high-profile rulings on abortion and gun rights.

Gallup reported Tuesday that the court’s job approval rose 29 percentage points among Republicans to 72% even as it plunged among Democrats to the lowest level recorded for any party group. A “relatively steady” 40% of independents approve of the court, unchanged from last year.

Overall, the high court’s job approval rose slightly from 40% in September 2021 to 43% this summer, remaining statistically unchanged within the margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

“The difference between the reading from September of last year and the current reading is that in September, the three major party groups were about equally upset with the court, whereas now Republicans are much more pleased and Democrats much more disappointed with how it is handling its job,” Gallup reported.

Gallup compared this year’s 59-point approval gap between Republicans and Democrats to a 58-point gap in 2015. That year, approval among Republicans hit a record low of 18% as Democrats reached a historic high of 76% after the Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Gallup conducted the randomized national telephone survey of 1,013 adults on July 5-26, selecting at least 75% cellphone respondents and 25% landline respondents. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.