Justice Amy Coney Barrett explained the increased security threats she has received in recent years, including a swatting incident at her home, to the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, as she and Justice Elena Kagan ask for increased security funds for the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court has asked for a roughly $228 million budget for fiscal 2027, a 10% increase from the previous year’s budget, including $14.6 million to expand the justices’ personal protection by adding six more agents per justice. The two justices made their case to the House committee, hours before they were scheduled to make their case for increased funding at a similar Senate committee. Supreme Court justices testifying before Congress has become rare in recent years, with 2019 the last time two justices testified.Barrett offered two personal stories illustrating the increased security threats the justices have faced in recent years. After a draft opinion of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked in May 2022, Justice Brett Kavanaugh had an assassination attempt on him at his home, and Barrett said her security detail during that time sent her home with a bulletproof vest.
“I carried it into my house, put it into my bedroom, dropped it down on a table, turned around, and my 12-year-old son was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, and he wanted to know what it was and why I had it,” Barrett said. “I didn’t know how to respond because maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one.”Justice Amy Coney Barrett on how threats have affected her family: "Maybe I lack imagination, but I didn't expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one." pic.twitter.com/jEbrHwy6c0— CSPAN (@cspan) July 14, 2026
