Supreme Court approval drops to historic low of 40%

Survey conducted as court refused to block new Texas abortion law

The US Supreme Court’s approval rating has dropped to a historic low of just 40 per cent, according to a new poll.

America’s highest court is disapproved of by 53 per cent of respondents, says the September poll conducted by Gallup.

Since 2001 the court’s approval rating had previously only dipped as low as 42 per cent in 2005 and 2017 and in July it had an approval rating of 49 per cent, meaning a drop of almost 10 points in just a few months.

The polling was carried out between 1 September and 17 September, when the court refused to block the controversial and restrictive new Texas abortion law, as well as allowing university vaccine mandates to remain in place.

“Americans’ opinions of the Supreme Court are now the worst Gallup has measured in its polling on the institution over the past two-plus decades,” said Gallup in a statement.

“At this point, less than a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents approve of the job the court is doing. Barely half of Democrats and independents are confident in it, while confidence is slightly higher among Republicans.”

The survey also showed that there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of Americans who have “a great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the federal judiciary, dropping from 67 per cent in 2020 to 54 per cent in the latest poll.

One-term president Donald Trump added three right-wing judges to the bench during his administration, sharply changing the make-up off the court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

There have been calls from some Democrats to expand the Supreme Court, and add a number of new liberal justices to re-balance it.

In the latest poll 40 per cent of respondents said that the court was “Too conservative” while just 20 per cent felt it was “too liberal”, with 37 per cent saying it was “about right.”

The Gallup conducted a random survey of 1,005 adults in all 50 US states and Washington, DC, with a margin of error of four per cent.