The Supreme Court’s approval rating has collapsed to the lowest level in Gallup’s 26 years of tracking, and the driving force behind the plunge isn’t coming from the left. Republican support for the conservative-majority court cratered from a near-record 79% last September to just 58% today, a stunning 21-point drop that reflects growing conservative frustration with a judiciary that giveth and taketh away.
Overall approval of the high court now sits at a dismal 33%, with a record-high 61% of Americans disapproving of how the justices are handling their jobs, according to Gallup. Democrats remain hostile at 12% approval, independents are skeptical at 35%, and now Republicans are joining the chorus of discontent. When you’ve lost the confidence of the coalition that installed three of your members, something has gone seriously wrong.
Recent rulings handed President Trump significant setbacks on signature policies. These weren’t minor administrative matters. They were core elements of the agenda that voters endorsed when they sent Trump back to the White House.
Since 2017, when Trump’s three appointments established a solid 6-to-3 conservative majority, Republican approval of the court has mostly exceeded 60%, per Gallup tracking. The conservative legal movement spent decades building toward this moment, believing that a majority of originalist justices would finally restrain the administrative state and respect the separation of powers. For a while, it seemed to be working.
The Trump administration has actually won the vast majority of its cases before the high court. Favorable rulings expanded presidential removal power over independent agency officials and upheld state restrictions on transgender athletes in women’s sports. But in politics and public perception, losses loom larger than wins. When the court blocks a president from fulfilling explicit campaign promises on immigration and trade, supporters don’t tally the scorecard. They feel betrayed.
President Trump hasn’t helped matters with his own rhetoric, turning his fire on the court when decisions don’t go his way. The conservative majority was supposed to be his insurance policy against judicial activism, not another source of resistance. When judges you appointed start ruling against your authority to set trade policy or define citizenship, it raises uncomfortable questions about whether the conservative legal movement’s theories actually serve conservative governance.
What happens when the highest court in the land loses the confidence of all sides? The left never accepted the legitimacy of the conservative majority after Roe was overturned. Now the right is questioning whether these justices are truly on their side. A court that pleases no one may be doing something right by following the law regardless of politics, or it may be revealing that the law itself has become so politicized that neutrality is impossible. Either way, 33% approval is a flashing warning light for an institution that depends on public legitimacy to function.
Providence watches over the bold.
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