Congress Approves Over $25 Million For Supreme Court Justices’ Personal Security

A stopgap bill funding the federal government until mid-March includes $25.6 million to secure the homes of U.S. Supreme Court justices as they face threats that stem from their rulings.

President Joe Biden signed the measure Saturday.

In recent years, the court’s superconservative majority has effectively decimated abortion access in areas across the country, expanded presidential power, loosened gun restrictions and weakened the authority of some federal regulators, such as the Environmental Protection Agency — chipping away at progressive gains made during the 20th century.

Protesters gathered outside conservative justices’ homes following the court’s landmark abortion decision in 2022, leading to a debate over whether justices should be made to face professional repercussions in their private lives.

In June 2022, a man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home with an assortment of weapons after authorities said he called a local emergency communications center and expressed an intent to kill Kavanaugh. Legislators subsequently ramped up a campaign to provide more security for the court’s nine justices, authorizing an initial security boost in 2022.

An Alaska man was arrested in September 2024 after authorities said he threatened to harm six Supreme Court justices and their family members.

Over the next year, the high court is expected to weigh in on several hotly contested issues, including a potential nationwide TikTok ban.

The American Relief Act of 2025 provides $12 million for the U.S. Marshals Service to protect justices’ homes, and about $13.6 million to the Supreme Court’s internal security for the same purpose.

Its passage came after days of confusion and turmoil among elected Republicans, who had started the week apparently intending to pass a slightly different version of the stopgap spending bill, but were derailed by President-elect Donald Trump and ally Elon Musk’s objections.