Supreme Court justices make case for more security funding

Geoff Bennett:

Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified before Congress today as the nation's highest court looks to increase security funding in the wake of threats. It's the first time Supreme Court justices have appeared before Congress since 2019.

Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, has more on today's hearings.

Lisa Desjardins:

An unusual sight on Capitol Hill, agreement across branches and ideologies.

Elena Kagan, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice:

I personally have enjoyed our regular meetings together, which have often occurred at the court.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett:

We work hard to disagree well when we disagree, and we agree a lot of the time.

Lisa Desjardins:

As two Supreme Court justices testified before Congress, something that has not happened since 2019, to make their case for increased security funding. They're asking for a $14 million increase in their budget for more personal protection, this after a series of threats to the justices, including a death threat to Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022, shortly after the justices overturned Roe v. Wade.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has faced threats herself, spoke personally.

Amy Coney Barrett:

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.

Lisa Desjardins:

The Supreme Court has its own police force, but that is not large enough for round-the-clock individual protection. The U.S. Marshals Service, which provides security for federal judges, has assisted at times. It reports nearly 300 judges face threats this year alone.

Elena Kagan:

For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize.

Lisa Desjardins:

Americans increasingly see the court as political, and lawmakers asked a few questions of accountability, including about ethics. That topic has come up more since 2023, when Justice Clarence Thomas came under fire for accepting luxury vacations from a conservative billionaire donor.

Democrat Rosa DeLauro pointed out there is no independent check right now.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT):

We have a committee. All the federal courts do. It's just the Supreme Court that doesn't.

Lisa Desjardins:

In a frank discussion, the justices acknowledged a need for an ethics process not run by the court, but they differed on how to do so.

Elena Kagan:

It would be a good thing to do. As you say, I think it's really important that it come from the judiciary itself. There are real complexities about how that would be done.

Amy Coney Barrett:

But because of the some of the complexities that Justice Kagan identified, I'm just not quite sure. It's a question of who selects the judges, how is the panel comprised.

Lisa Desjardins:

Some Democratic senators asked the justices directly about attacks on them from President Trump and his allies.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI):

I think that behavior is very dangerous to the court and to our whole system.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL):

That kind of rhetoric, I think, is unacceptable on either side of the table, Democrat or Republican, liberal, conservative. It just inflames people.

Lisa Desjardins:

Kagan called criticism of the justices from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle unhelpful.

Elena Kagan:

They're dangerous in terms of individual justices' security, and they're not appropriate in the way to treat a coordinate branch of government. When political figures of any stripe are trying to intimidate judges and justices to do things that they like, rather than the things that they don't, that's where we really have crossed the line.

Lisa Desjardins:

The day felt like something from another time, legitimate, respectful questions and focused answers. The High Court and Congress both are struggling with divide, but, today, not with each other.

Elena Kagan:

It was a very good session.

Lisa Desjardins:

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Lisa Desjardins on Capitol Hill.