The percentage of voters with significant levels of confidence in the Supreme Court has fallen to its lowest point since NBC News began polling on the issue in 2000, according to the most recent survey.
The latest NBC News poll shows that 22% of registered voters nationwide said they have “a lot” or “a fair amount” 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 in voter impressions of the Supreme Court came in the wake of the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, when 27% said they were very or fairly confident. That figure peaked at 52% in December 2000, just before the court’s Bush v. Gore ruling that cleared the way for George W. Bush to take office, a polarizing decision that shook the court’s popularity.
Although Republicans generally have greater confidence in the court than Democrats, there has been a decline over time between both congressional districts, 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 poll, 9% of Democrats said they had a lot or quite a bit of confidence in the court, compared to 35% of Republicans who did.
“It’s one thing to issue controversial rulings that one party may or may not like, but maintain respect and trust. What we are seeing is the opposite, where the court is issuing controversial rulings but it is not respected and, in fact, trust is being eroded,” he said. Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey along with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.
In an NBC News poll conducted after the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that President Donald Trump had broad criminal immunity in a case stemming from his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, 55% of Republicans said they had a lot or quite a bit of confidence in the court, while 4% of Democrats had a similar sentiment.
Democratic confidence in the court suffered another major blow in 2022 when the conservative majority struck down the federal right to abortion. At that time, 11% had significant trust in the court.
The new NBC News poll, which was available from February 27 to March 3, follows the Supreme Court’s most recent high-profile ruling striking down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, bucking a recent trend of major decisions favoring the president and other conservative causes. Trump responded with harsh criticism of the majority judges.
Republicans had previously chided liberals for stridently criticizing the court when they disagreed with its rulings, including the abortion decision.
“Right now… they’re getting it from both sides,” Horwitt said of the judges.
Maya Sen, a political scientist at Harvard Kennedy School, said the survey reflects how high-profile rulings tend to shape public opinion of the court, although it would take more than the tariff decision alone to spark a significant shift in attitudes.
If the court imposes other big losses on Trump, including his plan to end automatic birthright citizenship that is currently before the justices, sentiments among both Democrats and Republicans could change, he added.
“If there are a series of rulings unfavorable to the administration… I think what you would expect to see is support among Democrats to start to thaw a little bit and you would expect to see some reaction from Republicans,” Sen said.
A majority (54%) of voters surveyed said they approved of the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, while 27% disapproved. And 55% said Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy, compared to 33% who said they are helping.
Supreme Court justices are appointed for life and generally don’t have to worry too much about their popularity, but a sustained decline in trust brings its own problems. The court has no power to enforce its rulings and relies on faith in its legitimacy among political leaders and the people at large to make that happen.
“When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them simply as an attempt to impose personal preferences on society, regardless 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 added: “Just because people disagree with an opinion is no reason to question the legitimacy of the court.”
He NBC News Poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from Feb. 27 to March 3 using a combination of phone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
