Almost half of all Americans say Supreme Court is ruling on Trump’s agenda instead of the law, latest poll reveals

Nearly half of Americans now believe the Supreme Court is basing its rulings on the agenda of President Trump rather than the law. A recent survey conducted by the Washington Post/Ipsos between July 8 and July 13 shows that 46 percent of the 2,648 respondents hold this view. Only a quarter of those surveyed believe the high court is ruling based on the law, while 28 percent reported having no opinion.

The data reveals that 55 percent of respondents disapprove of the way the Supreme Court is doing its job, while just over 4 in 10 respondents approve. These feelings fall heavily along partisan lines. Among Democrats, 75 percent expressed disapproval, whereas 67 percent of Republicans voiced their approval of the court. The survey, which had a margin of error of 1.9 percentage points, highlights a significant divide in how the country views the highest judicial body.

This skepticism comes after a series of high-profile decisions involving the administration. The Supreme Court has delivered a mix of outcomes during the second term of President Trump. Last month, the justices invalidated the executive order issued on the first day of his term that aimed to restrict birthright citizenship. Additionally, the court struck down emergency tariffs on imports that the president had issued last year. These rulings certainly suggest the court is not simply acting as a rubber stamp for the White House.

Public perception of the court is currently quite polarized, as revealed in the poll

However, the president has also secured major victories. One of the most significant moments was the 6-3 decision that allowed him to fire Democrat Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission. This ruling was notable because it overturned the 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. For 91 years, that precedent had provided certain executive branch agencies with a degree of independence. By moving away from that standard, the court has granted the president increased authority over federal agencies.

This shift in power did not go unnoticed by the dissenting justices. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was joined in her dissent by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, argued that the decision grants far greater power than ever before to the president and future occupants of the Oval Office.

Sotomayor wrote, “It is true that today’s decision does not eliminate the FTC or the many other agencies whose structures are implicated by overruling Humphrey’s.” She added, “It is undeniable, however, that those agencies will be transformed in ways that those who created them never could have expected and actively sought to avoid, fundamentally recalibrating the balance of power in this country in the process.”

It is interesting to see how the president himself views these developments. After the court’s term concluded in late June, President Trump described the ruling regarding the Federal Trade Commission as the “biggest and most consequential decision” issued by the court.

Given the recent polling data, it is evident that while the president views these legal shifts as major successes, a large portion of the public remains wary of the motivations behind the court’s decisions.