Supreme Court justices make rare Capitol Hill appearance to push $230M security budget
Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are set to testify before House and Senate appropriators – a first since 2019 – as the high court seeks a 10% increase for its $230 million budget, including $14 million for "protective activities for justices' residences and families."
Rising threats on Justices loom over $14 million Supreme Court security push
The Supreme Court’s renewed push for security funding – $14 million for "protective activities for justices' residences and families" – comes amid rising threats on justices.
Most notably, Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced a death threat at his home in 2022.
A California resident appeared near Kavanaugh’s Maryland home armed with a handgun in one of the most high-profile security scares involving a sitting justice.
Sophie Roske later pleaded guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced in 2025 to eight years in federal prison.
The episode became a stark example of the risks facing justices outside the courtroom, particularly at their homes.
It also helps explain why the court is now asking for more than $14 million to expand protective activities for justices’ residences and families as part of a nearly $230 million fiscal 2027 budget request.
The concern is not limited to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Marshals Service reported that nearly 400 judges faced threats last year, with 276 more targeted this year as of July 1.
Chief Justice John Roberts has warned that personal hostility toward judges is dangerous.
“It’s got to stop,” Roberts said earlier this year, after highlighting a significant rise in threats across the judiciary in his year-end report.
Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testify before House and Senate appropriators Tuesday.
Justice Elena Kagan back before Congress for first time since 2019
Justice Elena Kagan returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a rare appearance before Congress, this time helping make the Supreme Court’s case for more security funding amid rising threats against judges.
Kagan will appears alongside Justice Amy Coney Barrett before House appropriators as the court seeks a nearly $230 million budget for the next fiscal year, a roughly 10% increase over the current year.
The appearance carries added significance for Kagan, who was one of the last sitting justices to testify before Congress. She appeared in 2019 with Justice Samuel Alito before the same House appropriations subcommittee to discuss the court’s budget request.
Tuesday’s hearing marks the first time sitting justices have appeared before Congress since then.
The security request comes as threats against judges have become a central concern for the judiciary. According to U.S. Marshals Service data cited by Reuters, nearly 400 judges faced threats last year, and 276 had been targeted this year as of July 1.
More than $14 million of the court’s request would go toward expanding Supreme Court Police Department “protective activities for justices’ residences and families,” according to the judiciary’s administrative arm.
Kagan, one of the court’s three liberal justices, appeared with Barrett, one of President Donald Trump’s three conservative appointees, after a term marked by major rulings on presidential power, abortion-related precedent and other divisive legal fights.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett brings her blank notebook, brain back to Congress for first time
Justice Amy Coney Barrett's returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for her first congressional appearance since the 2020 confirmation hearing where Sen. Lindsey Graham said she would be a worthy successor to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The appearance marks a rare public turn before Congress for Barrett, who became a breakout figure during her confirmation hearing after holding up a blank notepad when asked what notes she had been using — a moment conservatives still point to as a display of her command of the law.
Barrett, one of President Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court appointees, and Justice Elena Kagan, one of the court’s three liberal justices, are expected to defend the court’s request amid rising threats against the judiciary.
Recapping recent Supreme Court security threats in era of court-packing rhetoric
Rising security threats on the Supreme Court have come amid rhetoric campaigns on court-packing, according to constitutional legal scholar Jonathan Turley.
Fox News' "Fox & Friends" Lawrence Jones recapped several recent incidents Tuesday morning
It comes as Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett make their rare appearance before Congress as the high court seeks more security funding.
May 2022: The draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was illegally leaked, sparking protests and threats against Justice Samuel Alito, who was targeted outside his home.
June 2022: A man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after allegedly attempting to assassinate him.
June 2022: Protesters demonstrated outside the homes of justices in an effort to pressure the court ahead of major rulings.
July 2023: Chief Justice John Roberts was targeted with reported death threats.
September 2024: Authorities uncovered an alleged plot involving threats to kill justices and their family members.
May 2026: Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home was targeted in a swatting incident.
Kagan and Barrett are expected to make the case for additional $14 million in security funding to protect justices, their families and their residences.
"All of this campaign against the justices and the court have nothing to do with how they're ruling: It is an effort to pack the court because there's a long agenda of items that the far left wants to get through everything from wealth taxes to even getting rid of the Senate, which is part of the DSA platform," Turley told "Fox & Friends."
"All of that's going to require control of the Supreme Court; to do that, you've got to get citizens to hate them, hate the justices and hate the court."
Jonathan Turley: Campaigns to ‘demonize’ Supreme Court fueling hostility toward justices
Escalating rhetoric against the Supreme Court is fueling hostility toward justices and undermining public trust, legal scholar Jonathan Turley warned Tuesday.
“This is coming from a real movement to demonize the justices, demonize the court,” Turley told Tuesday's "Fox & Friends" before justices appear before two congressional hearings.
“It’s part of an effort to convince American citizens on our 250th anniversary to essentially gut the court by packing it.”
Recent threats and protests have targeted members of the high court, including the 2022 attempted assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and a protest outside Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home where demonstrators left bloody dolls on her lawn.
“These are people who are being triggered by this rhetoric,” Turley said, arguing that the attacks are “unconnected to the institution itself.”
The comments come as Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan appear before Congress to discuss the Supreme Court’s budget request, including $14 million additional funding for security.
“The Supreme Court has continued to show great independence and integrity,” Turley said, despite the threats, arguing that criticism of the court is about the leftist designs on court-packing.
“You’ve got to get citizens to hate them, hate the justices and hate the court,” Turley said.
Supreme Court seeks nearly $230 million budget, 10% increase of $21M, including $14M for security
The Supreme Court is asking Congress for nearly $230 million for fiscal 2027, a roughly 10% increase over the current year, with security costs driving a major part of the request.
Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett will testify before the House (10 a.m. ET) and Senate (2 p.m. ET), a first justice appearance before Congress since 2019.
Using the court’s approximate 10% increase, the current budget baseline would be about $209 million, meaning the request represents an increase of roughly $21 million overall.
More than $14 million of the new request would go toward expanding the Supreme Court Police Department’s “protective activities for justices’ residences and families.”
That security figure equals a little more than 6% of the court’s total requested budget.
The push comes amid growing concern about threats against judges. Data cited from the U.S. Marshals Service shows nearly 400 judges faced threats last year, and 276 had been targeted this year as of July 1.
Supreme Court justices testify to Congress for first time since 2019
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett are set for an unusually public day on Capitol Hill, appearing before House appropriators at 10 a.m. Tuesday before heading to the Senate side for a 2 p.m. hearing on the court’s fiscal 2027 budget request.
The back-to-back appearances mark the first time sitting justices have testified before Congress since 2019. Kagan was one of the last justices to do so, appearing that year with Justice Samuel Alito before the same House appropriations subcommittee.
Tuesday’s hearing will be Kagan’s second congressional appearance as a justice and Barrett’s first.
The appearances are rare, but not unprecedented.
Supreme Court justices have testified at congressional hearings 175 times since 1960, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Justices had appeared at least once every year from 1960 through 2011, but the practice has slowed in recent years.
The House hearing will focus on the Supreme Court’s budget request, with security expected to be a central topic.
The Senate hearing later in the day gives lawmakers another chance to press the justices on the court’s needs after years of rising threats, contentious rulings and sustained public scrutiny.
Fox News' Tyler Olson, Elaine Mallon and Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
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