# Two Supreme Court Justices Head to Capitol Hill to Plead for More Security Funding Amid Rising Threats
**By Dallas Headlines Staff**
In a rare and closely watched appearance, two U.S. Supreme Court justices are set to testify before congressional appropriations panels on Tuesday, making the case for a substantial funding boost aimed largely at protecting the nation’s highest court from a surge in threats and harassment.
Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett will ,appear before Congress Tuesday, weeks after the end of a historic term,. The two justices are scheduled to speak with lawmakers on both House and Senate appropriations subcommittees, marking ,the first time since 2019 that justices will face members of Congress,. The last such appearance came when ,Kagan and Justice Samuel Alito appeared in front of Congress in 2019,, while ,former Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia testified before the Senate back in 2011,.
## A Budget Request Driven by Fear for Safety
At the heart of Tuesday’s hearings is money — specifically, ,the Supreme Court’s request for a total of $228 million for the next fiscal year, representing roughly a 10 percent increase over the previous year,. According to budget filings reviewed by news outlets, ,that total includes a $14.6 million increase earmarked for expanding Supreme Court Police protective activities, covering justices and their families both at their homes and while traveling outside the Washington, D.C., area,.
The proposal goes well beyond simply adding more guards. Court budget documents show the money would fund ,an additional six agents per justice and an administrative position, as well as 25 officers necessary to enhance security at the Supreme Court Building, plus four additional police administration positions,. The plan also calls for ,$2.3 million to hire engineers and developers able to protect the justices from cyberthreats, and $2 million to fund an additional command post, designed to coordinate residential security assignments more efficiently. Separately, court officials are seeking ,$6.5 million to build a separate security screening facility where visitors would be screened before entering the Supreme Court building,.
Zooming out, the broader federal judiciary — not just the nine justices — is requesting ,$920.9 million for security in fiscal year 2027, an increase of $28.9 million, or about 3.2 percent, over the 2026 budget,. All told, ,the judiciary is asking for $9.7 billion in total funding, a 4.5 percent jump over the $9.2 billion enacted for fiscal year 2026,. Lawmakers face a hard deadline: ,Congress has until September 30 to pass a new spending bill for fiscal year 2027,.
## Threats That Hit Close to Home
The push for more resources isn’t abstract. ,Judges around the country have seen a rise in threats of violence and intimidation, including a fake swatting call to police about Barrett’s home in May,. That incident involved ,a swatting incident at Barrett’s family home in Northern Virginia, where a false report of gunfire prompted a large law enforcement response despite there being no actual emergency,.
Barrett’s family has faced this kind of harassment before. ,Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb threat in Charleston, South Carolina, though no bomb was ultimately found,.
The most alarming episode remains the 2022 case involving Justice Brett Kavanaugh. ,Shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a would-be assassin was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home carrying weapons and zip ties,. That scare prompted lasting changes, as ,justices began receiving around-the-clock security at their residences after protests erupted outside their homes following the Roe reversal,.
Federal data underscores that these are not isolated incidents. The ,U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for protecting the federal judiciary, reported 564 threats in the fiscal year that ended in September, up from 509 the year before,, with ,those threats spanning hundreds of federal judges nationwide, including Supreme Court justices,. Earlier this year, lawmakers had already responded to the growing danger: ,Congress approved a $30 million increase to the Supreme Court’s security budget after the Marshals Service reported 166 threats against federal judges since October 2025, following 560 reported threats the previous year,.
## A Court Under Political Scrutiny
Tuesday’s hearing arrives at a politically charged moment for the judiciary. ,The session comes two weeks after the conservative-majority court finished handing down a series of major opinions, including a decision that increased President Donald Trump’s power over federal regulatory agencies and another that rejected his wide-ranging tariffs, sparking harsh personal criticism,. The court’s docket this term also included consequential rulings on ,birthright citizenship and congressional redistricting that critics argue weakened the Voting Rights Act,.
Despite the divisive rulings, both justices appear intent on steering the conversation back to safety rather than ideology. ,Kagan, a liberal, and Barrett, a conservative, are expected to describe how escalating threats following several high-profile decisions have changed daily life for the justices,, according to reporting cited by national outlets. Still, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are likely to press the justices on unrelated matters given the rare opportunity, even as ,the two justices could face wide-ranging questions as they seek to keep focus on the budget,.
Chief Justice John Roberts has previously weighed in on the broader climate of hostility facing the bench. ,Roberts has condemned threats to all U.S. judges, saying during a speech in March that criticism of judicial opinions is understandable, but personally directed hostility is “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”,
## What Happens Next
The hearings will unfold in two stages. ,The House panel hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern, followed by a Senate hearing at 2 p.m. Eastern,. Whether Congress ultimately grants the court’s full request remains uncertain, but the testimony marks a significant moment of transparency for an institution that rarely opens its internal deliberations — especially those concerning the personal safety of its members — to public scrutiny.
For now, Kagan and Barrett’s joint appearance signals a bipartisan recognition, at least within the judiciary itself, that the threats facing American judges have escalated to a point requiring urgent congressional action — regardless of where any individual justice stands on the ideological spectrum.