1 in 3 says presidents should be able to remove judges over decisions: survey

Thirty-five percent of Americans said that they believe the president should be empowered to remove judges when their decisions go against the national interest, according to a new poll.

The latest iteration of the Axios/Ipsos Two Americas Index, released on Monday, found that 15 percent of respondents strongly agreed the president should be able to remove judges and 20 percent somewhat agreed.

A plurality — 43 percent — disagreed with the statement, including 24 percent who strongly disagreed. Twenty-two percent said they weren’t sure.

The finding comes as the Supreme Court’s approval rating hovers near record low levels in the wake of controversial decisions on abortion and other issues. 

A July Gallup poll found a growing partisan gap in the court’s approval, with 13 percent of Democrats approving of the court’s job, the lowest level yet. Seventy-four percent of Republicans, meanwhile, approved of the Supreme Court’s job, a large jump from the 45 percent recorded last year.

That poll was taken in the weeks after the court finished its annual term, during which it released multiple controversial decisions. In its perhaps most high-profile move, the court struck down Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion.

The new Axios-Ipsos poll also found that 38 percent of respondents agreed that the government should comply with the interests of the majority, even if it comes at the expense of ethnic and religious minority groups’ civil rights. Forty-one percent disagreed with the statement, while 21 percent were unsure.

A slight majority — 51 percent — disagreed that the government should be empowered to prosecute members of the news media who make offensive or unpatriotic statements. Thirty-three percent agreed with prosecuting.

The poll was conducted Sept. 1-2 with a sample of 1,001 U.S. adults. The margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.