By John Fritze, CNN
(CNN) — As the federal judiciary makes a rare personal pitch to Congress this week for tens of millions of dollars in additional security funding, the Supreme Court is sending a messenger who is positioned to speak in unusually personal terms about the threats the judiciary faces.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett has been at the center of several startling security incidents since President Donald Trump named her to the high court nearly six years ago, most recently a swatting attempt at her home in May that was thwarted after police realized she was the target.
“She has firsthand experience with this issue,” said Gabe Roth, who leads Fix the Court, a group that advocates for transparency and other reforms in the judiciary. “She’s a smart pick for the testimony.”
But Barrett will also be speaking at two hearings Tuesday just days after the Supreme Court wrapped a divisive term that invalidated Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship and impose global tariffs. Despite being closely aligned with the court’s conservatives, she has drawn a storm of criticism on the right for supporting those decisions.
It’s not clear whether that friction will come up at the hearings Tuesday, though multiple congressional aides told CNN that lawmakers are preparing questions that will take Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan, a member of the court’s liberal wing who will also appear at the hearings, far beyond their budget talking points.
The nine members of the Supreme Court rarely appear on Capitol Hill — a justice last testified before Congress in 2019 — and most of their off-the-bench appearances tend to be heavily scripted, moderated by federal judges speaking before reverential audiences.
But the Supreme Court, like every other part of the federal government, relies on Congress for most of its budget. And this year, with a well-documented wave of physical and cyber threats, the judicial branch is asking for a lot.
The judiciary has requested nearly $921 million for security, a $29 million increase over last year, for frontline security forces at federal courthouses. The request includes an increase of nearly $15 million to make members of the Supreme Court Police available to protect the justices and their families, including at their homes. The US Marshals Service took on the responsibility of protecting the justices’ homes in 2022 following the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion of the decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but that was never intended to be a permanent solution.
Overall, the judiciary is seeking $9.7 billion in discretionary funding, a 4.5% increase over last year.
Security incidents involving judges that the Marshals Service classified as of “significant concern” jumped 57% in 2025 — a point Barrett and Kagan are sure to stress.
Barrett’s bulletproof vest
Barrett has been involved with several close calls that have become public. Police in Washington’s Virginia suburbs said in May that they had been called to the home of a Supreme Court justice for what they determined was a “fictitious” report of gunfire. CNN later reported that it was Barrett’s home that was targeted, though neither the justice nor the court has publicly acknowledged the incident.
The home of Barret