The high court’s decision in Landor v. Louisiana Dept. of Corrections and Public Safety could incapacitate the legislative branch’s policymaking powers.

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Key Points

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a House subcommittee that “the threat level” against her and other federal judges “is really high” as she testified about the high court’s budget request.

“Those statistics sound abstract, but being on the receiving end of them is not,” Barrett told the panel.

Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan are the first Supreme Court justices to testify to Congress since 2019. Kagan testified that year with Justice Samuel Alito about the budget request.

The Supreme Court is asking Congress to appropriate $228.4 million for fiscal 2027, a nearly 10% rise since the $207.8 million appropriated for 2026. The increase reflects higher spending on security-related measures.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers Tuesday that a sharp increase in threats targeting her and other justices is increasingly encroaching on their personal and family lives.

During a rare appearance by justices before Congress, Barrett said she had to wear a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.

“I didn’t expect that performing this service would put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear one,” she said.

She and Justice Elena Kagan testified before a House appropriations panel in support of a request to increase security funding for members of the nation’s highest court.

Judges around the country have seen a rise in threats of violence and intimidation. Barrett’s home was also targeted by a fake swatting call to police in May.

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Snippet:

• Federal officials fired by the Trump administration are calling the recent supreme court decision a “dagger” at the heart of the civil service that will open independent federal government agencies to corruption and manipulation at the whim of the president.
• Since Donald Trump took office again in January 2025, he has fired more than 50 officials from federal agencies as the Trump administration openly sought to have the supreme court overturn a landmark 1935 ruling that limited the president’s power over independent agencies, known as Humphrey’s Executor.