Supreme Court justices detail security risks and weigh in on ethics in
rare congressional testimony
[July 15, 2026]
By
LINDSAY WHITEHURST
WASHINGTON (AP) — In rare congressional testimony, Supreme Court
justices shared chilling stories Tuesday about the threats they
increasingly face in public life and fielded questions about ethics and
emergency appeals.
The appearances from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena
Kagan were the first of their kind since 2019. Their testimony came
weeks after the conservative-majority court handed down a series of
major opinions, including one that increased President Donald Trump’s
power over federal regulatory agencies and one that rejected his
wide-ranging tariffs. Those rulings and more sparked harsh personal
criticism of the justices.
The main focus of the hearings in the House and Senate was a request for
increased security funding for the justices. Like judges around the
country, they’ve faced a surge in threats of violence and intimidation.
Barrett said she had to take a bulletproof vest home a few years ago,
something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son. “I didn’t
expect that performing this service would put me in the position of
explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear
one,” she said.
While security was the major theme of the justices’ testimony, ethics
and the shadow docket also emerged as lines of questioning for members
of Congress in packed hearing rooms with lines out the door.
Security is central to the Supreme Court's budget request
The Supreme Court requested a total of $228 million for next fiscal
year, a roughly 10% increase over the year before. About $18 million of
that is for maintaining the building and grounds.
Much of the requested operating-budget increase, $14.6 million, would go
to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for
each.
The U.S. Marshals Service reported 564 threats in the last government
fiscal year, an increase that includes threats to the hundreds of
federal judges around the country.
The nine-member Supreme Court has also been targeted, including by fake
911 swatting calls and pizza deliveries in the name of a judge’s
murdered son.
Barrett said her son opened their door in May to see their street filled
with police cars responding to a fake swatting call that her security
team quickly dispersed. Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb
threat in Charleston, South Carolina, police said. No bomb was found.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Roe
v. Wade abortion decision, a would-be assassin was arrested near the
home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties. Threats to
the Supreme Court have continued to grow since then and are expected to
be up 38% this year, Kagan said.
She condemned rhetoric from public officials targeting judges for
personal criticism when they disagree with their rulings.
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Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, right, and Elena Kagan
testify during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Tuesday,
July 14, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan
Howard)
“When political figures of any stripe are trying to intimidate
judges and justices to do things that they like rather than things
they don’t, that’s where we really have crossed the line,” she said.
Kagan and Barrett differ on ethics code enforcement
Multiple Democrats brought up the Supreme Court's relatively new
code of ethics, adopted in 2023 during a storm of criticism over
undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some
justices.
While the justices agreed that members of the court are taking the
code seriously, Kagan supported creating a way to enforce it. The
liberal-leaning justice acknowledged, though, that enforcement could
be tricky. That would have to come from the judicial branch and the
Supreme Court sits at its head.
Barrett, who is part of the court’s conservative majority, said
she's not sure an enforcement mechanism is possible. It's not clear
there's an effective way to address questions about who would do the
enforcing and how, she said.
“I am certainly fully committed to the code as are all of our
colleagues, but because of some of the complexities I'm just not
quite sure" about enforcement, she said.
Kagan cites downsides to the rise in emergency appeals
The Supreme Court has seen a sharp rise in appeals to its short-term
emergency docket, where the justices make quicker decisions in cases
still working their way through the court system.
It's been especially busy during Trump's second term, as his
administration appeals orders blocking parts of his wide-ranging
agenda to the nation's highest court. The government notched a
string of wins in this manner, on cuts to the federal workforce,
restrictions on transgender members of the military, and more.
Such decisions are usually made without a detailed explanation, and
while the orders are designed to be temporary they can nevertheless
have real-world effects.
“There are downsides of using emergency relief," Kagan said. “You
don’t get the kind of briefing that we ordinarily do. We don’t get
the argument we ordinarily get." She added: “We should consider
those downsides when we decide how often to grant relief.”
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