Poll: Confidence in the Supreme Court drops to a record low

The percentage of voters with significant levels of confidence in the Supreme Court has dropped to its lowest point since NBC News began polling on the question in 2000, according to the most recent survey.

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The latest NBC News poll shows that 22% of registered voters nationally said they have a "great deal" or "quite a bit" of confidence in the high court. Another 40% said they had "some" confidence, while 38% said they had "very little" or "no" confidence.

The previous low point for voters' impressions of the Supreme Court came in the wake of the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, when 27% said they had a great deal or quite a bit of confidence. That number hit a high of 52% in December 2000, just before the court’s Bush v. Gore ruling that paved the way for George W. Bush to take office, a polarizing decision that buffeted the court’s popularity.

Although Republicans generally have higher confidence in the court than Democrats do, there has been a drop among both constituencies over time, according to NBC News polling data. The court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority that often favors Republican causes on issues such as abortion and voting rights.

In the latest survey, 9% of Democrats said they had a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the court, compared with 35% of Republicans who do.

"It’s one thing to make controversial rulings that one party may or may not like but maintain respect and confidence. What we are seeing is quite the opposite, where the court is making controversial rulings but not being respected and in fact confidence is being eroded," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

In an NBC News poll that was conducted after the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that President Donald Trump had broad criminal immunity in a case arising from his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, 55% of Republicans said they had a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the court, while 4% of Democrats had a similar sentiment.

Democratic confidence in the court took another big hit in 2022 when the conservative majority overturned federal abortion rights. At that point, 11% had a significant amount of confidence in the court.

The new NBC News poll, which was in the field Feb. 27-March 3, follows the Supreme Court's most recent high-profile ruling, in which it struck down Trump's sweeping tariffs, bucking a recent trend of significant decisions in favor of the president and other conservative causes. Trump responded with harsh criticism of the justices in the majority.

Republicans had previously chided liberals for stridently criticizing the court when they disagreed with its rulings, including the abortion decision.

"At this stage ... they are getting it from both sides," Horwitt said of the justices.

Maya Sen, a political scientist at the Harvard Kennedy School, said the polling reflects how high-profile rulings tend to shape public opinion of the court, although it would take more than the tariffs decision alone to lead to a significant change in attitudes.

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If the court hands other big losses to Trump, including on his plan to end automatic birthright citizenship that is currently before the justices, sentiments among both Democrats and Republicans could change, she added.

“If there are series of unfavorable rulings for the administration ... I think what you’d expect to see is support among Democrats start to thaw a little bit and you’d expect to see some reaction from Republicans,” Sen said.

A majority (54%) of voters surveyed said they approved of the Supreme Court's tariffs ruling, while 27% disapproved. And 55% said Trump's tariffs are hurting the economy, compared with 33% who said they are helping.

Supreme Court justices are appointed for life and generally do not have to worry too much about how popular they are, but a sustained drop in confidence brings its own problems. The court has no power to enforce its rulings and relies upon faith in its legitimacy among political leaders and the people as a whole for that to happen.

“When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them as just trying to impose personal preferences on society, irrespective of the law, that’s when there’s a problem,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan said in 2022.

The same year, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said it is common for people to disagree with rulings, but he added: “Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court.”

The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters Feb. 27-March 3 via a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.