Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified Tuesday about some of the rising security threats that the court, their families, and fellow federal judges have faced in recent years, while urging Congress for a roughly 10% annual budget increase that would bolster security.“For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize,” Kagan said in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing while making the case for a roughly $14 million increase from the year prior.Their appearance was the first time since 2019 that sitting justices have gone before Congress.“The threats are constant, and they’re always there. And so it’s necessary now in daily activities,” Barrett said of the need for enhanced security, including the request to expand each justice’s security personnel, with six more agents for each.Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan (left) and Amy Coney Barrett testify about safety concerns during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington on Tuesday.KENT NISHIMURA via Getty ImagesThe court’s expenses have risen an average of 15% annually over the last five fiscal years, and the court’s security team anticipates a 38% increase in threats this year, said Kagan.In making their case for additional funding, Barrett shared some of the personal threats that have been made against her, including a swatting incident at her home roughly six weeks ago that directly affected one of her teenage sons.She was also sent home by her security team with a bulletproof vest around the time of the 2022 leak of a draft majority opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade, she said.“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,” she said, noting it had led to questions from her 12-year-old son.Kagan (left) and Barrett speak about some of the rising security threats that the court, their families, and fellow federal judges have faced in recent years.Anna Moneymaker via Getty ImagesAs far as federal judges, many have continued to receive threatening anonymous pizza deliveries to their homes. These deliveries use the name of the late son of New Jersey Judge Esther Salas, who was fatally shot in 2020, Barrett said.In addition to increasing security personnel for the justices, the court’s nearly $230 million budget request would enhance cybersecurity efforts amid a rise in online threats and data leaks, which have left all nine justices guarded in their work, said Kagan.“Because we can’t do our business, we can’t engage in confidential communications, which is the best way to operate ― is to be fully open with one’s colleagues about one’s views,” she said of the leaks. “If you think that those views are going to appear on the front page of a newspaper, you pull back. You don’t have the kinds of conversations that I think the court really depends on to do great work.”The two justices made a similar case before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday after their House appearance.