Supreme Court Justices Seek $14.6 Million More for Security in Budget Testimony

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified before a House appropriations subcommittee on July 14 to present the Supreme Court’s $228 million budget request for fiscal year 2027. The request includes $14.6 million to expand personal protection for the justices.

That allocation would add six agents to each justice’s detail and provide an additional $2 million for an off-site residential security post plus more Supreme Court police officers.

Barrett stated that the threat level is really high and that threats have come very close. She described wearing a bulletproof vest home several years ago and explaining it to her then-12-year-old son. Kagan said threats to the Court rose after the 2022 leak of a draft opinion in the case that overturned Roe v.

Wade and have continued to increase. The U.S. Marshals Service recorded 564 threats against federal judges in the fiscal year ending September 2025. Each justice is currently assigned between four and eight members of a security detail.

Another $18 million of the overall request is designated for maintenance of the Supreme Court building and grounds. The July 14 hearing was the first time Supreme Court justices have testified before Congress since 2019. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

did not attend. The session took place two weeks after the Court issued opinions on presidential authority over federal regulatory agencies and tariffs.