(CNN) President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, has the lowest initial net support for confirmation compared with other recent Supreme Court nominees, according to two new polls released this week.

A new Gallup survey shows 41% of Americans want the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh vs. 37% who don't want him confirmed -- a +4% net score. A new Pew Research survey found a similar +5% net score for Kavanaugh. Both net numbers mark the lowest in both of those surveys for recent Supreme Court nominees.

Kavanaugh's score places him alongside failed nominees Harriet Miers and Robert Bork, both of whom didn't end up on the high court. Miers' nomination by George W. Bush was withdrawn after controversy over her lack of experience on the bench. Bork's nomination by Ronald Reagan was defeated on the Senate floor over his judicial philosophy and his role in firing the Watergate special prosecutor.

But will it matter? Of course, voters don't directly decide who sits on the Supreme Court. The US Senate does that. And with a 51-49 split and Sen. John McCain at home in Arizona, Republicans can confirm Kavanaugh as long as the caucus stays united. Still, some Republican senators -- like Maine's Susan Collins, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky's Rand Paul -- are seen as potential no votes.

Further, with midterms around the corner, Democrats like West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Indiana's Joe Donnelly and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp, who are facing tough re-election bids in red states, remain undecided on Kavanaugh for now after already supporting Trump's first nominee, Neil Gorsuch, last year.

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