Supreme Court justices seek security funds in rare congressional appearance

Summary

• Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testify before House Appropriations subcommittee
• Supreme Court requests $20.6 million budget increase for fiscal 2027
• Police report 38 percent increase in threats against justices this year
• Recent incidents include swatting hoax and attempted assassination sentence

Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified before Congress on Tuesday, a rare appearance that comes amid escalating threats and rhetoric against judges.

The hearing – the first time since 2019 that justices have testified on Capitol Hill – is focusing on the court’s request for a $16.6 million budget increase to bolster security for the justices at work and at home. But the court recently concluded its 2025-26 term with several blockbuster cases, and lawmakers’ questions could still go in any number of directions.

The Supreme Court Police expects a 38 percent increase in threats this year, which follows a 25 percent increase last year, Kagan said in her prepared opening remarks.

“For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize,” she said.

Barrett said that the rising number of threats have required her and children “to think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about.”

Judicial security is a sensitive topic at a time when judges regularly face personal attacks from politicians and media figures who dislike their decisions. On Monday, Capitol Police arrested a 67-year-old Mississippi man who drove up to a barricade of the Capitol building with a handgun in his lap. He had asked an officer for directions to the Supreme Court, according to police, although his intentions remain unclear.

That followed other incidents in which the justices faced threats to their safety.

In May, Barrett’s home was targeted in an apparent “swatting” hoax, with a caller reporting gunshots to prompt a police response, according to news reports. In October, a Californian was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to assassinate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh at his home.

“Many of us, me included, have received threatening anonymous deliveries designed to intimidate and harass us,” Barrett said.

In March, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. condemned personal criticism aimed at judges. The comments came after Trump ramped up his critiques of the justices when they struck down many of his tariffs.

“Personally directed hostility is dangerous and has got to stop,” Roberts said during a talk at Rice University in Houston.

Kagan, a liberal, and Barrett, a conservative, are appearing before the House Appropriations subcommittee that approves funding for the court. The court has requested a $20.6 million budget increase for fiscal 2027, including a $14.6 million increase to give each justice an additional six security agents, as well as 25 extra officers at the Supreme Court building.

The court is also asking for $2 million for a “residential security office” to coordinate security at the justices’ homes.

The joint appearance also comes as the court’s conservative and liberal factions increasingly aim hard-hitting language at each other, in their opinions and sometimes beyond. Kagan and Barrett, are among the court’s more measured members.

Although the hearing was slated to focus on budget matters, House members have latitude to fire off questions on controversial topics including the court’s rulings. The high court’s recently concluded term included several hotly debated decisions, including one upholding birthright citizenship and another giving the president greater power over federal agencies.

In 2019, Kagan and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., appeared side by side before the same subcommittee, facing questions on matters including a possible Supreme Court ethics code and whether the court’s sessions should be televised.

The justices’ visits to Capitol Hill have been increasingly rare. Before this week’s testimony, there had been only three appearances by a sitting justice before Congress since 2011, according to a 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service. Before that, there was at least one appearance by a justice for 52 consecutive years.