Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are set to testify tomorrow before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the Supreme Court’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, marking the first time the two justices have appeared before Congress to defend the judiciary’s funding needs since 2019.
The testimony will focus on the Court’s request for a $228 million budget for the coming fiscal year, which includes a $20.5 million increase over current spending. Of that increase, $14.6 million is earmarked specifically to strengthen security protections for the nine justices, and an additional $2 million would cover security costs at the justices’ homes, according to reporting from Fox News. The funding would support the cost of staffing an additional 25 full-time Supreme Court Police officers.
The security funding request reflects mounting concerns about threats to the judiciary. According to CNBC, the last time Supreme Court justices testified before Congress on budget matters was in 2019, when Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Samuel Alito appeared before the same House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. The gap of seven years underscores how unusual this appearance is.
Threats against federal judges have accelerated in recent years. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated more than 1,000 serious threats against federal judges over the past five years, according to court documents. In fiscal year 2025, which ended September 30, the Marshals Service tracked 396 judges who were targeted by threats—the highest number on record, according to The Washington Post. Threats against judges more than doubled between 2019 and 2024, according to the Federal Judicial Center.
The Supreme Court’s push for expanded security began after the leak of a draft opinion in May 2022 that previewed the Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. That leak prompted protests outside the homes of several justices and led Congress to approve a $30 million security boost for the Court in January 2026, which is expected to last through September 2028. Since then, specific incidents have continued to concern the Court. In May 2026, Barrett was the target of an apparent swatting incident after a false report of gunshots at her Virginia home prompted a police response. Authorities determined the call was a hoax after coordinating with Supreme Court Police officers.
The testimony comes two weeks after the Supreme Court concluded a consequential term that included major rulings on birthright citizenship and presidential authority to remove independent agency officials. Both Barrett and Kagan participated in the birthright citizenship decision, which upheld the constitutional right despite President Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict it. Their joint appearance, despite ideological differences, signals the Court’s unified concern about security needs.
Sources
- Fox News — Justices Barrett and Kagan’s scheduled testimony, security funding details, and prior incidents targeting justices
- CNBC — Confirmation of July 14 testimony date, prior 2019 testimony by Kagan and Alito, and budget request information
- The Washington Post — Fiscal year 2025 threat statistics and record-high number of judges targeted
- Federal Judicial Center — Data on threat increases between 2019 and 2024
