OAN Staff Lillian Mann
5:30 PM – Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Justice Amy Coney Barrett is calling for increased security funding for members of the judiciary after revealing the “chilling and violent” threats she and her family have endured.
SCOTUS Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan made a rare joint appearance before Congress, the first time sitting justices have testified on Capitol Hill since 2019.
Testifying before both the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on the Supreme Court’s 2027 fiscal year budget on Tuesday, Barrett revealed that her children had been affected by the growing wave of threats and harassment targeting the high court.
Her testimony supported the court’s push for a 10% budget boost to $228.3 million, which includes $14.6 million dedicated solely to securing the justices’ homes and protecting their families.
“My security detail sent me home with a bulletproof vest,” Barrett recounted. “I carried it into my house, put it into my bedroom, dropped it down on the table, turned around, and my 12-year-old son was standing in the middle of my bedroom.”
“He wanted to know what it was and why I had it … I didn’t know how to respond. They have required me [and] my children to think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about,” Barrett continued.
During the testimony, both Barett and Kagan stressed that the threats have impacted them on a personal level, specifically their day-to-day lives and families.
“The Supreme Court police expect a smaller but still substantial 38% annual increase in threats this year, which follows a 25% increase last year,” Kagan told the subcommittee. “For some of us, those threats have come very close indeed,” she continued. “And all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize.”
About six weeks before her testimony, Barrett disclosed that her family had been the target of a swatting attack — a false report claiming there was gunfire and yelling inside her home — which prompted a large police response at her doorstep.
She recounted that one of her teenage sons opened their front door to meet friends, only to be met by a street filled with squad cars. Fortunately, SCOTUS police officers stationed at the residence intercepted the arriving local authorities, convincing them the report was a hoax before anyone tried to enter the home.
Meanwhile, several other justices have similarly demanded heightened security. These judicial safety concerns have escalated alongside a rise in online harassment, doxxing, and physical threats. Perpetrators are increasingly turning to tactics like swatting as well as weaponized, unsolicited food deliveries, officials say.
Barrett noted that these targeted unsolicited deliveries are sometimes placed under the name of Daniel Anderl — the late son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Daniel was fatally shot in 2020 by a lawyer posing as a FedEx delivery driver at the family’s New Jersey home.
The tragedy led to the passage of New Jersey’s “Daniel’s Law” and the federal Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act in December 2022, both of which shield judges’ and lawmakers’ personal data from the public. Yet, despite the escalating intimidation tactics, Kagan vowed that the bench remains unshaken, pledging that the justices will continue deciding cases “without fear or favor.”
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