Republicans and Democrats have never been more divided in their approval of the Supreme Court and Congress, according to a new Gallup poll.

The survey, conducted July 7-21, found a record 64-percentage-point gap between Republicans (75%) and Democrats (11%) in their approval of the Supreme Court. This surpasses the previous high of 61 points set after the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Congress also saw a near-record partisan split, with 55 points separating Republicans’ approval (61%) from Democrats’ (6%). This ties the largest gap in Gallup’s trend dating to 1974.

Supreme Court Approval Falls to Record Low

The Supreme Court’s overall approval rating fell to 39%, dropping below 40% for the first time. Democrats’ 11% approval marks the lowest ever measured for any party group, while Republicans’ 75% ranks among the highest historically.

These record divisions reflect growing political polarization in evaluations of federal institutions. The presidential approval gap has averaged about 80 points under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, 10 points higher than any previous president.

Half of the 10 largest partisan gaps in Supreme Court approval have occurred since the 2022 Dobbs decision, issued by the court’s 6-3 conservative majority. Earlier polarization often followed rulings pleasing liberals, such as same-sex marriage legalization and Affordable Care Act decisions.

The court’s approval has consistently stayed below 50% since 2021, a departure from ratings near 60% when Gallup first measured it in the early 2000s.

The most polarized congressional ratings typically occurred during the early years of Trump and Biden’s administrations when their parties controlled Congress.
Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,016 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.