Also:

• Public supports independence of Federal Reserve, opposes firing of member of Board of Governors
• 57% say Court is going out of its way to avoid ruling against Trump
• 44% approve of job the Court is doing, 56% disapprove—a decline from early 2025

MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds that 63% of adults think the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold a lower court ruling that limits the president’s authority to impose tariffs, while 36% think the Court should overturn the lower court’s ruling and rule for the president. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, on Nov. 5 but has not issued a decision as of Feb. 3.

Public views of the case have been consistently in favor of finding limits on the tariff authority since the Marquette poll first asked about this case in September. Table 1 shows opinion over three national surveys. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)

Table 1: Limit president’s tariff authority

Among adults

Poll dates	Court should
	Uphold the appeals court ruling that limits the presidents’ authority to impose tariffs	Overturn the appeals court ruling and hold that the President has the authority to set tariffs
1/21-28/26	63	36
11/5-12/25	62	38
9/15-24/25	61	39
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: A federal appeals court has issued a ruling that substantially limits the president’s authority to impose tariffs on imports to the United States. This decision has been appealed to the Supreme Court. How do you think the Supreme Court should rule?

The survey was conducted Jan. 21-28, 2026, interviewing 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.

A majority of the public, 56%, say that tariffs hurt the U.S. economy, while 30% think they help the economy and 14% say tariffs don’t make much difference. Of those who think tariffs help the economy, 77% are in favor of overturning the limits on the president’s authority. But, even among this group, almost one-in-four (23%) think the president’s authority should be limited. Among those who say tariffs harm the economy, 89% think the Court should limit presidential authority. Among those who say tariffs don’t make much difference, opinion as to the president’s authority is evenly divided. Table 2 shows how views of the effect of tariffs are related to opinion of how the Court should rule.

Table 2: Limit president’s tariff authority, by effect of tariffs

Among adults

Effect of tariffs	Court should
	Uphold the appeals court ruling that limits the president’s authority to impose tariffs	Overturn the appeals court ruling and hold that the president has the authority to set tariffs
Helps U.S. economy	23	77
Hurts U.S. economy	89	11
Doesn’t make much difference	47	52
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: A federal appeals court has issued a ruling that substantially limits the president’s authority to impose tariffs on imports to the United States. This decision has been appealed to the Supreme Court. How do you think the Supreme Court should rule?
Question: In general, do you think imposing tariffs or fees on products imported from other countries helps the U.S. economy, hurts the economy, or doesn’t make much of a difference either way?

Approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of tariffs is similarly related to opinion about how the Court should rule. Thirty-seven percent of adults approve of how Trump is handling tariffs. Among this group, 78% say the Court should sustain the president’s authority over tariffs, while 22% say the Court should limit that authority. Among those who disapprove of Trump’s handling of tariffs, 89% say the Court should limit his authority and 11% say the president should have the power to set tariffs.

Opinion of this case is not purely a partisan divide. While 67% of Republicans think the Court should rule for the president’s authority, 33% think the authority should be limited. Democrats overwhelmingly favor such limits (92%), and 69% of independents also favor limiting the president’s authority.

Federal Reserve

On Jan. 21, the Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. Cook concerning the president’s attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. In the current poll, 35% say the Court should rule that the president can remove Federal Reserve governors, while 64% say the president should not be held to have that power.

In the January survey, 76% say the Federal Reserve should be independent of political control. Among this group, 78% say the president should not be able to remove members of the Board of Governors and 22% say he should have this authority. Among the 24% of adults who say the president should have more influence over the Federal Reserve, 78% say the president should be able to remove members and 22% say he should not be able to do so.

Partisans are divided on how the Court should rule, with 35% of Republicans saying the president should not be able to remove members, while 65% think that he should. Independents largely oppose giving the president authority over membership on the Board of Governors (68%), as do 92% of Democrats.

The Court and the President

More than half, 57%, of those polled say the Court is going out of its way to avoid ruling against Trump, while 43% say the Court is not doing so. Among Republicans, 34% think the Court is avoiding ruling against Trump, as do 59% of independents and 78% of Democrats.

A large majority (82%) of adults believe that the president must obey a Supreme Court decision, with 17% who say the president can ignore a decision with which he disagrees. These views have been quite stable in 10 Marquette polls since 2019, never dipping below 76% saying the president must obey the Court. The percentage saying that has not fallen below 82% since January 2025.

This belief in the authority of the Court is not a partisan matter. Among Republicans, 76% say the president must obey the Court, as do 79% of independents and 90% of Democrats.

Approval of the Supreme Court

Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court’s handling of its job has fallen from 50% in September to 44% in January. Approval had fallen sharply in 2022 following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade. Net approval, the percentage approval minus disapproval, then remained negative throughout the remainder of 2022 and through 2024. In January 2025, net approval moved into positive territory before turning down in July. Table 3 shows approval of the Court since September 2020.

Table 3: United States Supreme Court approval

Among adults

Poll dates	Approval
	Net	Approve	Disapprove
1/21-28/26	-12	44	56
11/5-12/25	-12	44	56
9/15-24/25	0	50	50
7/7-16/25	-2	49	51
5/5-15/25	6	53	47
3/17-27/25	8	54	46
1/27-2/6/25	2	51	49
12/2-11/24	-4	48	52
10/1-10/24	-10	45	55
7/24-8/1/24	-14	43	57
5/6-15/24	-22	39	61
3/18-28/24	-6	47	53
2/5-15/24	-20	40	60
11/2-7/23	-18	41	59
9/18-25/23	-14	43	57
7/7-12/23	-10	45	55
5/8-18/23	-18	41	59
3/13-22/23	-12	44	56
1/9-20/23	-6	47	53
11/15-22/22	-12	44	56
9/7-14/22	-20	40	60
7/5-12/22	-23	38	61
5/9-19/22	-11	44	55
3/14-24/22	9	54	45
1/10-21/22	6	52	46
11/1-10/21	8	54	46
9/7-16/21	-1	49	50
7/16-26/21	21	60	39
9/8-15/20	33	66	33
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?

There are substantial partisan differences in views of the Supreme Court’s handling of its job, with Republicans much more approving (78%) than independents (26%) or Democrats (17%). Republican net approval fell by 14 points from September to November but substantially recovered in January. Net approval among independents declined by 20 points from September to November and fell another 12 points in January. After a 26-point approval drop from May to July, Democrats showed less change from September to November, declining just 4 points. Democrat approval was unchanged in January. The recent trend in approval by party identification is shown in Table 4.

Table 4: United States Supreme Court approval, by party ID

Among adults

Poll dates	Approval
	Net	Approve	Disapprove
Republican
1/21-28/26	56	78	22
11/5-12/25	48	74	26
9/15-24/25	62	81	19
7/7-16/25	62	81	19
5/5-15/25	56	78	22
3/17-27/25	58	79	21
1/27-2/6/25	68	84	16
12/2-11/24	48	74	26
10/1-10/24	36	68	32
7/24-8/1/24	34	67	33
5/6-15/24	14	57	43
Independent
1/21-28/26	-46	26	72
11/5-12/25	-34	33	67
9/15-24/25	-14	43	57
7/7-16/25	-10	45	55
5/5-15/25	-14	43	57
3/17-27/25	-10	45	55
1/27-2/6/25	-8	46	54
12/2-11/24	-8	46	54
10/1-10/24	-18	41	59
7/24-8/1/24	-22	39	61
5/6-15/24	-48	26	74

Democrat
1/21-28/26	-66	17	83
11/5-12/25	-66	17	83
9/15-24/25	-62	19	81
7/7-16/25	-64	18	82
5/5-15/25	-38	31	69
3/17-27/25	-38	31	69
1/27-2/6/25	-62	19	81
12/2-11/24	-58	21	79
10/1-10/24	-54	23	77
7/24-8/1/24	-58	21	79
5/6-15/24	-54	23	77
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?

Attention to the Court

The Supreme Court is not the center of attention for most of the public. In January, 23% said they had read or heard a lot about the Court in the last month, 63% had heard only a little, and 14% had heard nothing at all.

Exposure to news about the Court is linked to general attention to politics. Among the 46% of adults who say they follow what’s going on in politics most of the time, 41% say they have heard a lot about the Court in the past month. That percentage drops to 10% for those who follow politics some of the time and drops below 2% for those who pay only sporadic attention to politics. The full relationship is shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Exposure to news about the Court, by attention to politics

Among adults

Attention to politics	Heard about the Court
	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
Most of the time	41	55	4
Some of the time	10	77	13
Only now and then	1	59	39
Hardly at all	2	43	56
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Thinking about the last month only, how much have you heard or read about the U.S. Supreme Court?
Question: Some people seem to follow what’s going on in politics most of the time, whether there’s an election going on or not. Others aren’t that interested. How often do you follow what’s going on in politics?

Approval of the Court’s work is not related to exposure to news about the Court. Among those hearing a lot about the Court, 42% approve of how the Court is handling its job. Approval among those hearing a little is 45%, and for those hearing nothing at all it is 41%.

Approval of the Court’s handling of its job is also not linked to general attention to politics. Among those who follow politics most of the time, 45% approve. Among those following politics some of the time, 44% approve. Those who follow politics only now and then give the Court a 50% job-approval rating.

On Dec. 4, the Supreme Court allowed Texas to use new congressional district maps in the 2026 elections, staying a lower court order barring the new districts’ use. In the January poll, 29% said they had heard a lot about this decision, 41% said they heard a little, and 31% said they had heard nothing at all.

Among those who follow politics most of the time, 47% heard a lot about this decision and another 40% heard a little. Among those who follow politics only some of the time, just 17% heard a lot and 38% heard nothing at all.

Recent and pending cases

On Dec. 23, the Court let stand a lower court order in Trump v. Illinois preventing the Trump administration from federalizing and deploying National Guard troops within Illinois. Sixty-two percent favor this ruling, with 38% opposed. In November, 57% said the Court should block the deployment of the National Guard and 43% said it should allow the deployment.

On Jan. 13, the Court heard arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J., which asks whether state laws can prohibit transgender girls and women from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams. Sixty-four percent say the Court should rule those laws are constitutional, while 36% say they should rule the laws unconstitutional. This opinion is barely changed from September, when 62% said the Court should uphold the state laws.

The Court has scheduled oral arguments on March 2 in United States v. Hemani challenging the federal statute that prohibits the possession of firearms by a person who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.” This is one of two gun-rights cases the Court is set to hear this term. A majority (61%) say the Court should rule that this law does not violate the Second Amendment, while 39% say it violates the Second Amendment.

Favorability of the justices

The justices are not familiar to most Americans, despite their positions on the high court. Among all adults, Clarence Thomas is the only justice with over 50% name recognition, followed by Brett Kavanaugh and Sonia Sotomayor at just under 50% recognition. The least well-known justice is Elena Kagan, while Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito are only slightly better known. The three justices in the middle are Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Those who are most attentive to politics are considerably more aware of the justices, with more than 50% recognizing each justice and over 70% recognition for the best-known justices. The rank order is virtually identical for the politically attentive group and for all adults. While these levels of name recognition are lower than for most national political figures, the justices are at least somewhat familiar to those who follow politics most of the time.

Table 6 shows the percentage able to recognize and rate each justice among all adults and among those attentive to politics who say they follow politics most of the time.

Table 6: Recognition of justices

Among adults and those attentive to politics

Justice	Able to rate, among adults	Able to rate, among attentive to politics
Clarence Thomas	56	77
Brett Kavanaugh	49	72
Sonia Sotomayor	47	68
Ketanji Brown Jackson	43	65
Amy Coney Barrett	42	65
John Roberts	41	63
Samuel Alito	37	56
Neil Gorsuch	32	51
Elena Kagan	31	51
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Some justices of the Supreme Court are better known than others. For each of these names, have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?

Sotomayor has the highest net favorability of the justices, followed by Kagan and Jackson—a cluster of the three liberal justices. Roberts is barely net positive, Gorsuch a net of zero, and Barrett and Alito are slightly net negative. Thomas and Kavanaugh are the most net negative in terms of favorability of the justices. Table 7 shows the net favorable-minus-unfavorable opinion of the justices for all adults and for each partisan group.

Table 7: Net favorability of justices, by party identification

Among adults

Justice	All adults	Republican	Independent	Democrat
Sonia Sotomayor	13	-21	4	52
Elena Kagan	9	-7	-3	30
Ketanji Brown Jackson	7	-28	1	44
John Roberts	1	22	-1	-19
Neil Gorsuch	0	25	-6	-23
Amy Coney Barrett	-2	27	-7	-28
Samuel Alito	-3	24	3	-31
Clarence Thomas	-6	38	-8	-51
Brett Kavanaugh	-7	34	-7	-50
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Some justices of the Supreme Court are better known than others. For each of these names, have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?

There is strong party polarization in views of the justices. Republicans rate the three liberals negatively and the six conservative justices positively. Democrats reverse this, with positive feelings for the liberals and negative feelings for the conservatives. Independents give ratings that are more evenly divided than those of partisans and don’t follow the clear liberal-conservative patterns of partisans.

An important difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats feel much more strongly about the justices than do Republicans. For example, Republicans rate Sotomayor at -21 and Democrats rate her at +52, a much more intense balance of feelings. The same holds for Kavanaugh, whom Republicans rate at +34, but the Democrats rate him a more intense -50. This difference in intensity holds for each justice except for Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett, for whom intensity differences are modest. This difference in intensity helps explain why most of the conservative justices are rated negatively, even though Republicans and Democrats have almost equal shares of the population. The greater Democratic intensity, both positive and negative, helps tip overall favorability up for liberal justices and down for conservative ones.

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The survey was conducted Jan. 21-28, 2026, interviewing 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.

Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. Certain other data from this survey (focusing on national political topics) were previously released on Feb. 4. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available on the Marquette Law School Poll website.

Wording of questions about recent and pending Supreme Court decisions: These items do not attempt to exactly frame the particular issues in specific cases but rather address the topic in more general terms.

The wording of questions about recent cases include:

Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump

A federal appeals court has issued a ruling that substantially limits the president’s authority to impose tariffs on imports to the United States. This decision has been appealed to the Supreme Court. How do you think the Supreme Court should rule?

Trump v. Cook

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case asking whether President Trump can remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. A lower court ruling prevented the removal, which the Supreme Court is now considering. How do you think the Supreme Court should rule?

Trump v. Illinois

In December the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s deployment in Chicago of National Guard troops. Do you favor or oppose the Supreme Court’s decision?

West Virginia v. B.P.J.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case asking whether state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause. How do you think the Supreme Court should rule?

United States v. Hemani

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in February on a challenge to the constitutionality of a federal law that makes it a felony for any “unlawful user” of illegal drugs to have a gun. How do you think the Court should rule? [Note: argument is scheduled for March 2]

Secondary headlines:

• 37% say shooting of Renee Good was justified, 62% say it was not justified
• General support for deportations remains steady, with 56% favoring deporting those in the U.S. illegally
• Overall approval of President Trump is at 42%, continuing a gradual decline
• Opinion of the state of the economy improves from November

MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School poll finds 40% of adults nationwide approve of the way U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, is handling its job, while 60% disapprove. The poll was conducted after the shooting in Minneapolis of Renee Good, but with most interviews completed before the shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, 2026.

Views of ICE are sharply divided along partisan lines with 80% of Republicans approving of its work, compared to 23% of independents and 5% of Democrats.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents say the shooting of Good was justified, and 62% say it was not justified. Here, too, there is a large partisan gap, with 76% of Republicans, 21% of independents, and 5% of Democrats saying it was justified.

The Good shooting was highly visible to Americans, with 76% saying they had heard or read a lot about it, 17% saying they had heard a little, and 7% saying they had heard nothing at all. Independents were less likely to have heard a lot (55%) than either Republicans (76%) or Democrats (84%).

The survey was conducted Jan. 21-28, 2026, interviewing 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. For registered voters, the sample size was 869, with a margin of error of +/-3.6. For likely voters, the sample size was 577, with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points.

Opinion about deportations has hardly changed since November. In the current poll, 56% favored deporting “immigrants who are living in the United States illegally,” with 44% opposed. In November, 58% favored and 42% opposed such deportations.

Among those who favor deportations, about a third, 35%, disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration, while 65% approve of ICE’s conduct. Those who oppose deportations are almost unanimously opposed to ICE, with 96% disapproving and 4% approving.

When asked about deportations of those who “have lived here for a number of years, have jobs and no criminal record,” support for deportations declines to 44%, with 56% opposed. This result is unchanged from November.

Those who favor deporting longtime residents without a criminal record are more approving of ICE’s conduct, with 78% approval against 22% disapproval. Of those opposed to deporting longtime residents without a criminal record, 89% disapprove of ICE, while 11% approve.

Fifty-two percent say the United States is mostly deporting immigrants who have no criminal record, while 47% say most deportations are of people with criminal records. Among Republicans, 83% say most deportees have criminal records, while 57% of independents and 86% of Democrats say most deportees have no criminal record.

Approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration stands at 44%, with 56% who disapprove. In November, 45% approved and 55% disapproved of how Trump has handled immigration. Approval on this issue has declined from 50% in May, with net approval standing at -12 percentage points, as shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)

Table 1: Approval of Trump handling of immigration

Among adults

Poll dates	Approval
	Net approve minus disapprove	Approve	Disapprove
1/21-28/26	-12	44	56
11/5-12/25	-10	45	55
9/15-24/25	-8	46	54
7/7-16/25	-6	47	53
5/5-15/25	0	50	50
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: [Immigration] Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues?

Attention to news

The Good shooting in Minneapolis received the most attention from the public among seven topics covered, with 76% hearing or reading a lot, followed by the military operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro, with 65% hearing a lot. The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files also caught the attention of more than half of the public.

Items falling below 50% of respondents saying they read or heard a lot include the killing of film director Rob Reiner and the social services fraud in Minnesota. Lower in public attention are the renaming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Trump-Kennedy Center. The news that got the least attention was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Texas to use its redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections. Table 2 shows the complete results.

Table 2: Attention to events in the news

Among adults

Item	Heard or read
	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent	76	17	7
The U.S. Army operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro	65	27	8
The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the Department of Justice	57	34	9
The killing of filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife in December	48	36	17
A widespread social services fraud scandal in Minnesota including Medicaid, housing, and autism services	45	31	24
Renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington as the Trump-Kennedy Center	40	32	28
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in December that allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections	29	41	31
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these?

Some news items become equally well known regardless of which news sources people rely upon—only conservative television news sources (Fox News, Newsmax, or OAN) or other network television news (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS or BBC)—while others show substantial differences.

There is little difference in amount heard about the Venezuela operation, the Good shooting, or the killing of Rob Reiner, with small amounts more of other-network TV news consumers hearing more about these events than those who consume only conservative TV news sources.

There are larger differences for news about the Supreme Court’s Texas redistricting decision, and much larger gaps are found for the Epstein files, the Minnesota social services fraud scandal, and renaming the Kennedy Center. More other-network TV news consumers (than those who consume only conservative TV news sources) had heard or read a lot about the Texas redistricting decision by about 10 percentage points (44% to 34%), the Epstein files by 26 points (75% to 49%), and renaming the Kennedy Center by 31 more points (63% to 32%).

With the Minnesota social services fraud scandal, 71% of conversative TV news consumers had heard or read a lot, compared to 45% of other-network TV news consumers—a 26-point difference.

A consistent result across all topics is that those who rely on other news sources, neither conservative nor other network news, are notably less likely to have heard a lot about any of these topics. Only one topic had more than 50% of consumers of other news sources hearing or reading it—60% have heard or read a lot about the Good shooting.

The full results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Attention to events in the news, by news sources

Among adults

Item	Heard or read a lot
	Net conservative minus other network	Conservative TV news only	Conservative & other network TV news	Other network TV news only	Only other news sources
The U.S. Army operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro	-4	74	73	78	47
The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent	-5	83	84	88	60
The killing of filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife in December	-7	54	56	61	31
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in December that allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections	-10	34	29	44	15
The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the Department of Justice	-26	49	65	75	42
A widespread social services fraud scandal in Minnesota including Medicaid, housing, and autism services	26	71	60	45	30
Renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington as the Trump-Kennedy Center	-31	32	46	63	21
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these?

Partisans differ in where they turn for news, with Republicans more likely to rely on only conservative sources, while Democrats are much more likely to rely only on other network news sources. However, it is notable that 28% of Republicans rely on a mix of conservative and other network sources, while half that many Democrats, 13%, digest this mix of sources. Independents are much more likely than partisans to ignore television news and to rely on other news sources. Table 4 shows these results.

Table 4: News sources, by party identification

Among adults

Party ID	News sources
	Conservative TV news only	Conservative & other network TV news	Other network TV news only	Only other news sources
Republican	22	28	14	36
Independent	6	16	17	61
Democrat	2	13	52	32
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Which of the following, if any, have you read, watched, or listened to in the past month for information about political news and current affairs?

2026 congressional vote

Looking ahead to November, 48% of registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress and 44% would vote for the Republican candidate. Among likely voters, i.e., those who say they are certain to vote next November, 52% support the Democratic candidate and 45% prefer the Republican. In November 2025, 49% favored the Democrat and 44% the Republican among registered voters.

In this poll, Democrats are only slightly advantaged by a greater commitment to voting in November’s midterm elections. Among registered voters, 72% of Democrats say they are certain to vote, compared to 70% of Republicans. That is a narrower edge than in November’s survey, in which 75% of Democrats were certain to vote versus 68% of Republicans.

Independents are much less likely to vote than either partisan camp, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Likelihood of voting, by party identification

Among registered voters

Poll dates	Likelihood of voting
	Absolutely certain to vote	Very likely to vote	Chances are 50-50	Don’t think will vote
Republican
1/21-28/26	70	18	11	1
11/5-12/25	68	19	9	4
Independent
1/21-28/26	41	26	26	7
11/5-12/25	37	27	22	14
Democrat
1/21-28/26	72	17	7	4
11/5-12/25	75	16	7	2
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: What are the chances that you will vote in the November 2026 general election for congressional and state offices– are you absolutely certain to vote, very likely to vote, are the chances 50-50, or don’t you think you will vote?

Approval of how Republicans in Congress are doing their job stands at 39%, with disapproval at 60%. This is little-changed from November, when 40% approved and 60% disapproved.

For Democrats in Congress, 29% of respondents approve and 71% disapprove. This is a considerable decline from November, during the federal government shutdown, when 36% approved and 64% disapproved.

The decline in approval of Democrats, and the stability of Republicans, come from differences in support within their parties. Approval of congressional Democrats among Democratic voters fell from 64% in November to 51% in January. By contrast, approval of Republicans in Congress among Republican voters has remained stable, with 79% approval in November and 80% approval in January.

Democrats in Congress also experienced a decline in approval among independents, from 29% approval in November to 21% approval in January. Approval of congressional Republicans among independents rose 2 points, from 20% in November to 22% in January.

The reason Democrats are able to maintain their lead in the congressional vote is that Democrats are extremely loyal to their party’s congressional candidates, despite their disappointment with their party. Table 6 shows the congressional vote choices by party for January and November among registered voters. Democrats are slightly more loyal to their party than Republicans are to theirs. Democrats also have an advantage among independents, though many of them say they would support neither party or not vote.

Table 6: 2026 congressional vote, by party identification

Among registered voters

Poll dates	Congressional vote choice
	Democratic candidate	Republican candidate	Neither	Would not vote
Republican
1/21-28/26	6	92	2	0
11/5-12/25	4	91	5	0
Independent
1/21-28/26	36	10	51	4
11/5-12/25	38	17	39	6
Democrat
1/21-28/26	95	1	3	1
11/5-12/25	96	2	1	1
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: If the election for Congress were held today, would you vote for the (Democratic) candidate in your district or the (Republican) candidate in your district?

Which party is better on issues

Across eight issues, the Republicans are seen as better able to handle four issues than Democrats. Democrats are seen as better on two issues. On two issues, there is little difference.

Republicans have substantial advantages on crime, national defense, and immigration and border security, and a smaller advantage on taxes. Democrats have large advantages on health care and on Medicare and Social Security. These party strengths have been common images of the parties for some time.

On the economy and on inflation and the cost of living, the parties are seen as closely matched.

On all eight issues, from a quarter to a third of adults say the parties are about the same or that neither would be good—the latter being a sign of disenchantment with both parties. The full results are shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Which party is better across issues

Among adults

Issue	Net Rep minus Dem	Republican party	Democratic party	Both about the same	Neither would be good
Crime	23	44	21	22	13
National defense	18	43	25	20	11
Immigration and border security	18	46	28	13	13
Taxes	9	39	30	16	15
The economy	3	37	34	16	13
Inflation and the cost of living	-1	33	34	18	15
Health care	-18	28	46	12	14
Medicare and Social Security	-18	28	46	13	13
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Do you think the (Republican party) or the (Democratic party) would do a better job handling each of the following issues?

The most important issues

Inflation and the cost of living is the top issue for 38% of adults, followed by the economy at 17% and immigration and border security at 14%. The top two issues are also the two with the smallest difference in which party would do a better job on the issue, as shown in Table 7. The Republican strength on the third most important issue, immigration, is offset by the Democratic party advantage on the next two top issues, Medicare and Social Security and health care. The other issues see below 5% choosing them as most important. Table 8 shows these results.

Table 8: Most important issue

Among adults

Issue
	Percent most important
Inflation and the cost of living	38
The economy	17
Immigration and border security	14
Medicare & Social Security	9
Health care	8
Abortion policy	3
The size of the federal deficit	3
Crime	2
The war between Russia and Ukraine	1
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Which one of the following issues matters MOST to you right now?

Trump job approval across issues

In January, Trump’s overall job approval is 42% and disapproval is 58%. This almost matches his approval late in his first term in September 2020, when 41% approved and 58% disapproved.

This is a slight decline from November, when 43% approved and 57% disapproved. Over the first year of his second term, Trump’s job approval has moved steadily downward in small poll-to-poll changes. His approval has declined from 48% in February 2025, while disapproval has risen from 52%. This has taken him from a small net negative approval of -4 points to a current net of -16 points. Table 9 shows his approval in each Marquette poll of the second term, plus his standing in September 2020.

Table 9: Trump approval trend

Among adults

Poll dates	Approval
	Net approve minus disapprove	Approve	Disapprove
1/21-28/26	-16	42	58
11/5-12/25	-14	43	57
9/15-24/25	-14	43	57
7/7-16/25	-10	45	55
5/5-15/25	-8	46	54
3/17-27/25	-8	46	54
1/27-2/6/25	-4	48	52
9/8-15/20	-17	41	58
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?

There is a wide range of approval of Trump’s handling across eight topics, with a majority (53%) approving his handling of border security, giving him a net approval on that subject of +6 points. On the low end, 30% approve of his handling of inflation and the cost of living and his handling of information about Jeffrey Epstein. Both of these have a net approval of -39 points. His second highest approval is on immigration, though more disapprove than approve. Opinions of Trump’s handling of the economy and tariffs are both quite negative, with net approvals of -24 points and -25 points, respectively. Two new topics are the situation in Venezuela, with a net approval of -13 points, and his use of military force, a net of -17 points. Table 10 shows these results.

Table 10: Trump job approval across issues

Among adults

Issue	Net approve minus disapprove	Approve	Disapprove
Border security	6	53	47
Immigration	-12	44	56
The situation in Venezuela	-13	43	56
Overall	-16	42	58
The use of military force	-17	41	58
The economy	-24	38	62
Tariffs	-25	37	62
Inflation/cost of living	-39	30	69
Information about Jeffrey Epstein	-39	30	69
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues?

Personal characteristics

Views of Trump’s personal characteristics show some changes since October 2024.

• A majority, 55%, think the phrase “is too old to be president” describes Trump very or somewhat well, a slight decrease from the month before the 2024 election.
• “Shares your values” describes Trump for 39%, a decline of 6 points from 2024.
• Fewer people see Trump as having a strong record of accomplishments, 46%, than in 2024, a decline of 7 points.
• The number of those saying he has the right temperament to be president stands at 36%, little changed since 2024.

These results are shown in Table 11.

Table 11: How well does this phrase describe Trump

Among adults

Poll dates	How well phrase describes
	Very/somewhat well	Not too/not at all well
Is too old to be president
1/21-28/26	55	45
10/1-10/24	59	41
Shares your values
1/21-28/26	39	61
10/1-10/24	45	55
Strong record of accomplishments
1/21-28/26	46	54
10/1-10/24	53	47
Has the right temperament to be president
1/21-28/26	36	64
10/1-10/24	38	62
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: How well does each of the following phrases describe Donald Trump?

Actions in Venezuela

A majority of adults, 55%, think the United States did the right thing in capturing Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, while 45% think it was the wrong thing to do. This is a substantial change in opinion from November, when respondents were asked “Do you think the United States should attempt to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power or should the United States not get involved in Venezuela?” In November, 24% said the U.S. should attempt to remove Maduro, while 76% said the U.S. should not get involved in Venezuela.

Opinion shifted most dramatically among Republicans, 37% of whom said the U.S. should remove Maduro in November. In January 87% say the U.S. did the right thing in capturing him. Independents also shifted substantially, from 20% support for U.S. action in November rising to 51% in January. Democratic support of intervention almost doubled, from 12% in November to 23% in January.

While support for capturing Maduro rose, the public is reluctant to further expand involvement in Venezuela by sending troops in order to take control of the country. Such expanded involvement is favored by 28% and opposed by 72%. Despite their support for capturing Maduro, Republicans are not inclined to commit troops, with 46% in favor and 54% opposed. Among independents 70% are opposed, as are 89% of Democrats.

The practice of lethal strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs is approved by 45% and disapproved by 54%. In November, 49% approved and 51% disapproved.

Asked who is now running Venezuela, 40% say the United States is in charge, while 60% say the Venezuelan government is running the country.

Greenland

Twenty-nine percent say they favor the U.S. taking control of Greenland, with 70% opposed. In May, 27% favored and 73% were opposed.

Prices and financial situation

The public remains pessimistic about prices, with 61% saying inflation will increase over the next 12 months, 19% saying inflation will stay about the same, and 19% thinking inflation will decrease. That is an improved outlook from November, when 67% expected inflation to increase over the next year.

Prices of specific items can move in different directions, and perceptions of price changes reflect this. Asked about the price of groceries, 70% say this has gone up over the past six months, in line with government estimates of inflation in food prices of about 3% in 2025. Only 11% think grocery prices have gone down.

In contrast, 50% say the price of gasoline has gone down, with 29% who say prices have held steady and 21% say gasoline has become more expensive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average price of unleaded regular gas declined from $3.339 in September to $3.050 in December.

Perception of grocery price changes is related to whether one does the grocery shopping or someone else in the household does it. For those who say they do most of the shopping, 72% say prices have gone up, while among those who say someone else does the shopping, 58% think prices have increased. Experience at the checkout seems to matter. Of those who say they share the grocery shopping about equally, 71% say prices are up, virtually the same as for those who say they do most of the shopping.

Views of the economy improved from November to January. In November, 28% said the economy was excellent or good, a percentage that rose to 35% in January. At the gloomy end of the scale, the percent saying the economy is poor decreased from 29% in November to 25% in January. Despite the short-term decline, the percentage saying the economy is poor, 15%, was lower in February 2025. The recent trend is shown in Table 12.

Table 12: Views of the national economy

Among adults

Poll dates	National economy
	Excellent	Good	Not so good	Poor
1/21-28/26	4	31	40	25
11/5-12/25	2	26	43	29
9/15-24/25	2	27	50	20
7/7-16/25	3	32	44	21
5/5-15/25	3	29	47	22
3/17-27/25	2	24	53	20
1/27-2/6/25	1	26	58	15
12/2-11/24	4	25	50	21
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: How would you describe the state of the nation’s economy these days?

There has been a small improvement in how people describe their family financial situation. In January, 40% say they are living comfortably, an improvement from November’s 31%, and a small improvement from a year ago when 36% said they were comfortable. Similarly, the percentage saying they are struggling declined from November to January, and is down slightly over the year. Table 13 shows financial situation poll results since December 2024.

Table 13: Family financial situation

Among adults

Poll dates	Financial situation
	Living comfortably	Just getting by	Struggling	Skipped/Ref
1/21-28/26	40	45	15	0
11/5-12/25	31	44	24	0
9/15-24/25	37	46	17	0
7/7-16/25	35	47	18	0
5/5-15/25	35	48	17	0
3/17-27/25	38	47	15	0
1/27-2/6/25	36	48	17	0
12/2-11/24	35	44	20	0
Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Thinking about your family’s financial situation, would you say you are living comfortably, just getting by, or struggling to make ends meet?

Data centers

The construction of large data centers has become controversial in parts of the country. In January, 37% say the benefits of these centers outweigh the costs, while 62% say the costs outweigh the benefits.

While data centers have sparked controversy in some locations, most people have heard little or nothing about them in their state: 14% say they have heard a lot, 43% have heard a little, and 43% have heard nothing at all.

Those who have heard a lot about data centers are more likely to say the costs outweigh the benefits (71%) than those who have heard a little (60%) or those who have heard nothing at all (62%).

Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs

The public is about equally divided on the question of whether diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs should be terminated in the federal government, education, and business. Forty-six percent favor ending DEI programs, while 53% oppose terminating them. These results are similar to the results in March and May 2025 when 50% and 48% favored ending DEI programs. The March and May questions asked about ending the programs in the federal government but did not mention education or business.

A majority of adults (58%) say that DEI programs do not affect the jobs of white men, while 41% say DEI programs lead to job discrimination against white men.

There are substantial differences in this perception, by race and gender, as shown in Table 14. A majority of white men (60%) believe DEI programs lead to discrimination against white men, while a majority of white women (58%) say it does not. Among nonwhite men and women, more than two-thirds say DEI programs do not produce discrimination against white men.

Table 14: Does DEI lead to job discrimination against white men, by race and gender

Among adults

Race	Job discrimination
	Gender	Lead to job discrimination against white men	Do not affect the jobs of white men
White	Male	60	39
White	Female	41	58
Nonwhite	Male	33	67
Nonwhite	Female	23	76
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Do you think diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs lead to job discrimination against white men or do they not affect the jobs of white men?

Prospects for democracy and pride in the country

The public is evenly divided about the country’s future as a democracy, with 50% saying they are very or somewhat optimistic and 50% who say they are not very or not at all optimistic. While there is a substantial partisan gap in optimism, the party polarization is not as large as on most issues. While 74% of Republicans are optimistic, 26% are not. And while 66% of Democrats are not optimistic, 34% have an optimistic outlook. Independents are quite pessimistic, with 70% who say they are not optimistic.

As for pride in “who we are as a country,” only a small majority (55%) say they are very or somewhat proud, with 45% saying they are not very or not at all proud.

There is a sharp decline in pride in the country as one moves from people born before 1960 through each succeeding decade of birth, as shown in Table 15.

Table 15: Proud of our country, by decade of birth

Among adults

Decade of birth	Proud of country
	Proud	Not proud
Pre-1960	70	30
1960s	67	33
1970s	54	46
1980s	55	45
1990s	43	57
2000s	33	67
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: How proud are you of who we are as a country?

There is also a large partisan gap in pride in the country, with Republicans far more proud than independents or Democrats.

Table 16: Proud of our country, by party identification

Among adults

Party ID	Proud of country
	Proud	Not proud
Republican	87	13
Independent	36	64
Democrat	30	70
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: How proud are you of who we are as a country?

Trust in other people

Fifty-two percent of adults say most people can be trusted, while 48% say most people cannot be trusted.

There is a large gradient in trust in other people by decade of birth, shown in Table 16. The most recent birth cohorts are far less trusting that those born in the 1960s or before, and trust declines with each successive recent cohort.

Table 17: Trust in other people, by decade of birth

Among adults

Decade of birth	Trust in other people
	Most people can be trusted	Most people can’t be trusted
Pre-1960	75	25
1960s	55	45
1970s	56	44
1980s	46	54
1990s	44	56
2000s	33	67
Marquette Law School Poll, national survey Jan. 21-28, 2026
Question: Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or most people can’t be trusted?

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The survey was conducted Jan. 21-28, 2026, interviewing 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. For registered voters, the sample size was 869, with a margin of error of +/-3.6. For likely voters the sample size was 577, with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points.

Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. Certain other data from this survey (focusing on those about public views of the Supreme Court) are held for release on Feb. 5. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available on the Marquette Law School Poll website.