• The U.S. president must obey rulings by either the Supreme Court or lower federal courts; majorities oppose call to impeach judges
• Majority say President Trump lacks power to freeze spending and close agencies; presidents should not have power to make laws if Congress fails to act
• Approval of the Supreme Court remains above 50%, rising from below 50% in 2022-2024.

Please note: Complete Poll results and methodology information can be found online at law.marquette.edu/poll/

MILWAUKEE – A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds strong support for federal courts when they rule against the president on legal matters. When asked whether a president must obey a ruling by a federal court, 79% say the president must obey and 21% say the president can ignore the ruling. When the question asks about a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, slightly more, 84%, say the president must obey the Supreme Court, while 16% say the president can ignore the order.

When asked in December, 79% said the president must obey rulings of the Supreme Court. There has been a small increase in the percentage since then, as shown in Table 1. The question about a ruling by “a federal court” was asked for the first time in the May survey. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)