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The overwhelming majority of American adults believe that the Trump administration should adhere to federal court orders, although the president’s most ardent supporters are divided on the matter, as revealed by a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll conducted in collaboration with SurveyMonkey.
The poll indicates that 81% of U.S. adults think if a federal court declares an administration action illegal, the administration must comply with the ruling, whereas 19% believe the administration can disregard the ruling and proceed with its action.
However, among those identifying as supporters of the MAGA movement, the opinion is more polarized. The poll shows that backers of President Donald Trump are evenly split, 50%-50%, on whether he should obey federal court orders.
Democrats are almost unanimous on the issue, with 96% saying the administration has to follow court orders. Among independents, 87% say the administration must obey court orders, while 13% say Trump can ignore them.
The issue of whether the White House can ignore rulings from federal courts has come to the fore as the administration carries out executive actions, including its deportation program, at rapid speed.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller argued last month that “Marxist judges” were conducting a “judicial coup” by constraining the president’s authority when a judge ordered the release of a Tufts University student in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. Several federal judges, meanwhile, have considered whether to hold executive branch officials in contempt for what one called “willful disregard” of judicial orders.
The issue has also arisen in the high-profile case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He was deported to an El Salvadoran prison in what the government initially called an “administrative error.” The case rose to the Supreme Court, which ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return. The Trump administration held out against pushing for that for nearly two months before Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States early this month to face federal charges alleging human smuggling.
Views of the Supreme Court
The poll found that 55% of Americans have favorable opinions of the Supreme Court, while 45% view it unfavorably.
Republicans are more supportive of the court than Democrats: 75% view it favorably, compared with 34% with favorable views among Democrats.
Yet one key finding is that Americans generally don’t hold strong views of the Supreme Court right now: 11% have strongly favorable opinions, while 12% are strongly unfavorable. The large remainder rates the court “somewhat” favorably or unfavorably.
The poll was conducted ahead of the Supreme Court’s traditional season for its highest-profile rulings, and it has yet to rule this year on contentious cases like one concerning birthright citizenship, which could affect public opinion of the court.
The court isn’t expected to rule on the merits of whether Trump can end birthright citizenship, which has long been considered a clear right under the 14th Amendment, via executive order. Rather, the current case focuses on the power of judges to block presidential policies through nationwide injunctions.
If the court rules in Trump’s favor, district judges would be limited from using nationwide injunctions to temporarily block an administration policy. There have been at least 39 such rulings during Trump’s second term.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” last month that he has “great respect” for the Supreme Court.
The NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey was conducted online from May 30-June 10 among a national sample of 19,410 adults ages 18 and over. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
