A new Marquette Law School Poll released Thursday shows that public approval of the U.S. Supreme Court remains divided along partisan lines, with 47% of adults approving and 53% disapproving of its performance. The survey, conducted from July 22-29, 2026, indicates that while the court's overall approval rating has seen little change since May, perceptions are increasingly tied to political affiliation and the court's rulings involving the Trump administration.
The data reveals a gap between Republican and Democratic views of the institution. According to the poll, 74% of Republicans approve of the court’s job performance, compared to 35% of independents and 22% of Democrats. Across ideological lines, 80% of "very conservative" respondents expressed approval, while 5% of "very liberal" adults did the same.
The survey also measured public reaction to 13 recent specific rulings. A majority of respondents favored 11 of those 13 decisions. The most popular ruling involved limiting police access to cell phone locations. Other cases showed division; for instance, 81% of Republicans supported a ruling allowing the Trump administration to restrict asylum seekers, a position shared by 22% of Democrats.
For many respondents, views of the court are influenced by party identification and perceptions of the court's relationship with the executive branch. While 47% approval represents nearly half the population, a 52-point gap exists between Republican and Democratic approval. This compares to July 2021, when 58% of Republicans and 60% of Democrats approved of the court.
Roughly 55% of all adults believe the court rules in favor of the Trump administration "almost always" or "most of the time." The poll found that for independents and Democrats, the perception that the court often sides against Trump is related to higher approval of the court. For Republicans, approval remains the same regardless of whether they think the court sides with the president.
Poll director Charles Franklin noted that while agreeing with specific decisions can boost approval among independents and Democrats, the "persistent forces" of party and ideology generally override the impact of individual cases. The survey found that even when respondents agreed with a high number of the court's specific rulings, their partisan identity remained a strong predictor of whether they approved of the court as a whole.