Gallup poll: Supreme Court approval rating highest in over a decade

Fifty-eight percent of Americans approve of the job the court is doing, up from 54% last year, according to the poll.

But the poll shows dramatic swings in how Democrats and Republicans view the court.

Sixty percent of Republicans approved of the court this year, down 13% from 2019. For Democrats, 56% approved, up from just 38% one year ago.

Independents, at 57%, also had a positive view of the court. The partisan ratings for the court are the closest across ideological lines that Gallup has recorded since 2000.

The results come after the court contemplated several hot button issues this term, handing some surprising wins to liberals and infuriating conservatives who wanted and expected much more than they got from the majority conservative bench. President Donald Trump slammed the court several times throughout the term, but got a mixed bag in two cases concerning his bid to shield his financial documents that will likely allow him to not release anything before the election.

The court also decided major issues concerning abortion, the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, religious liberty and executive power. Conservatives made strides, particularly in the area of religious liberty and the administrative state. But liberals got a clean win in a landmark case expanding the Civil Rights Act to LGBTQ employees and at least temporary wins on DACA and abortion.

The high approval rating also comes as the public has had unprecedented access to the inner machinations of the court. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the court streamed oral arguments over the airwaves, allowing Americans to listen to the proceedings live.