(NewsNation) — Supreme Court justices are asking Congress for millions in federal funding for additional security as they face an increase in violent threats.
The justices have requested just under $20 million to boost protection efforts, including adding around-the-clock personal security details.
The federal judiciary branch unveiled its $9.4 billion budget request for the 2025 fiscal year, calling for millions to expand security activities for the Supreme Court police and for SCOTUS’ own police force to take over security at justices’ homes, which is currently handled by the U.S. Marshals Service.
“Ongoing threat assessments indicate that there are evolving risks that require continuous protection,” the budget request states.
The proposal for increased security funds was part of the overall budget request shared last week to provide funding for the entirety of the federal judiciary.
This all comes as the U.S. Marshals Service showed a big spike in serious threats last fiscal year
against federal judges and prosecutors.
In the last fiscal year, there were more than 450 threats against federal judges and prosecutors. That’s almost as many as the two years prior combined.
The amount of threats against federal prosecutors requiring investigation also spiked. The last fiscal year saw 155 threats investigated, more than double the amount in the 2021 fiscal year.
U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis blamed heated political divisions across the country for the rise in threats. In the past, he said most threats came from Americans upset against judges in their own cases.
Now, he said, those threats seem to be tied back to people being upset with politics.