Kagan and Barrett warn of rising threats in rare Congress testimony

Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett told House and Senate appropriators on Tuesday that the Supreme Court needs more money for protection as threats against the justices climb and the court’s security posture changes. The rare Capitol Hill appearance was the first time sitting Supreme Court justices had testified before Congress since 2019, and the Supreme Court is seeking about $225.1 million to $228 million for fiscal year 2027, roughly 10% more than the year before.

Kagan said the Supreme Court police force expects threats against the justices to rise 38% this year after a 25% increase last year. Barrett described being sent home with a bulletproof vest when threats intensified after the 2022 leak of the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, and said she later faced a swatting hoax about six weeks before the hearing, when a false emergency report brought police to her home.

The Supreme Court has already used a $28 million supplemental appropriation to move home security away from the U.S. Marshals Service and under Supreme Court police control. Justices are also seeking to expand each security detail from four personnel to eight, to provide round-the-clock protection and cut overtime and burnout for the officers assigned to protect the nine-member court.

The hearing also turned to judicial ethics and transparency, with lawmakers pressing the justices on whether the court should adopt a binding ethics code with enforcement mechanisms.

In 2022, police arrested a man outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home after the leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs, and in 2020 Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, was killed by a disgruntled attorney who had targeted her home in New Jersey.