During a subcommittee hearing on increasing the security budget for the U.S. Supreme Court, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) made the bold claim that “overheated language” about the justices “could in fact trigger violence.”“It’s appalling to me that some of the rhetoric is coming from public officials on both sides of the aisle who should know better than to levy personal and political attacks against the judiciary and the court specifically,” Collins said.The Maine Republican then appeared to reference remarks that then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made in 2020, saying conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch would face consequences for releasing “the whirlwind” over abortion rights.“For example, a senator stood in front of the Supreme Court building and called out to members by name, saying that they had released the whirlwind and that they will pay the price,” Collins said, without referencing Schumer by name.“Other public officials have called the court corrupt, out of control, and serving an extremist agenda,” she continued. “This overheated language, this completely inappropriate rhetoric against the Supreme Court, endangers the lives of the justices and erodes public trust in our system of government.”“I believe that all of us must avoid that kind of dangerous and disturbing rhetoric, because it could in fact trigger violence,” Collins added.Schumer later apologized for his remarks after Chief Justice John Roberts called his comments “inappropriate” and “dangerous.”Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified Tuesday in front of Congress about the increase in threats of violence and political attacks they have faced in recent years. “For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize,” Kagan told members of Congress while pleading for a roughly $14 million budget increase to bolster security efforts.Kagan and Barrett, the first Supreme Court justices to appear before Congress since 2019, said the budget increase would cover the cost of an additional six security agents for each justice and an additional 25 officers at the Supreme Court building.