Senate Republican on Supreme Court security funding request: ‘There’s not a money fairy up here’

Senate Senate Republican on Supreme Court security funding request: ‘There’s not a money fairy up here’ Comments: by Sophie Brams - 07/15/26 12:45 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Sophie Brams - 07/15/26 12:45 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) expressed skepticism Tuesday about increasing the Supreme Court’s annual budget, even as the justices say they need more money to protect them and their families against a surge in threats toward federal judges.

Kennedy, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned why the high court needs a budget boost when they already have “better security than everybody else” during a Fox News appearance.

“They’re like everybody else up here. Their favorite type of spending is more,” he told host Griff Jenkins. “There’s not a money fairy up here.”

His comments came shortly after Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Amy Coney Barrett made rare appearances in back-to-back congressional hearings to defend the court’s $228 million budget request for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1.

The ask — a roughly $20 million increase from the previous fiscal year — includes more than $15 million for security enhancements, including expanding each of their personal security details by six agents and creating an off-site residential security office.

Barrett, whose Virginia home was targeted in a “swatting” incident this spring, testified to House lawmakers that that federal judges are facing a “really high” threat level across the country.

The U.S. Marshals Service has recorded at least 370 threats toward federal judges in the current fiscal year, with the agency conducting more than 500 protective investigations.

“The statistics sound abstract but being on the receiving end of them is not,” Barrett said, recounting an interaction with her son after she came home with a bulletproof vest following the leak of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion.

That stunning leak prompted protests outside the court and the homes of conservative justices. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was also targeted in an assassination attempt by an individual named Sophie Roske, who showed up to his Maryland home with a pistol, zip ties and pepper spray.

Each justice is now assigned a personal security detail of between four and eight officers, which Barrett said can fluctuate depending on need, such as if the justice is expected to be “more in the limelight” at a public event.

“Over time, we’d like that detail number to increase,” Kagan told lawmakers.

While acknowledging that the justices “feel insecure” about their safety, Kennedy cautioned against simply “throwing money at the problem.”

“I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic, but four to eight cops with you at all times as part of your security detail is strong as horseradish,” he said. “I’ll take a look at their request, but I’m not going to just automatically treat them any differently.”