Kagan says Supreme Court rulings have worsened polarization and weakened democracy

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized recent decisions by the court’s conservative majority, arguing that rulings on voting rights, partisan gerrymandering and campaign finance have made the United States more polarized and less democratic.

Speaking Tuesday at Catholic University’s law school in Washington, Kagan said the court had “blinded itself” to the harmful effects of its decisions on the political system and had “created a democracy that does not work as well as it should.” The remarks came two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections.

Kagan, one of the court’s three liberal justices, pointed to an April ruling that narrowed protections under the Voting Rights Act and a June decision striking down limits on political parties’ coordinated spending with candidates. She said the campaign-finance ruling increased the potential for donor corruption and criticized the growing amount of money in politics.

She also faulted the court’s 2019 decision holding that federal courts cannot intervene in disputes over partisan gerrymandering. Kagan said both parties had since engaged in a “race to the bottom,” drawing maps that diminished voting equality and pushed candidates toward ideological extremes because they were chiefly concerned about primary challenges.

Kagan nevertheless said it would be unfair to characterize the majority as reflexively supportive of President Donald Trump, citing rulings involving tariffs, birthright citizenship and mail ballots in which the court pushed back against his administration.