Republicans raise concerns about Supreme Court justices’ safety

A pair of House Republicans are raising concerns about Supreme Court justices’ safety following the recent attempted assassination of former President Trump.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs one of the panel’s subcommittees, on Tuesday sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding a staff-level briefing about steps taken to bolster the nine justices’ security.

“[I]n light of the heightened rhetoric and the recent assassination attempt on President Trump, we remain concerned about the security and safety of all judicial branch officers—including and especially the safety of Supreme Court justices,” they wrote in the letter.

The justices’ security has been an increasing concern even before Trump’s Pennsylvania rally earlier this month, where a gunman nearly killed the former president and injured his right ear. The shooting, which also resulted in the death of one rally attendee and critical injuries to two others, sparked the Secret Service director’s resignation on Tuesday.

For the justices, worries came to a head two years ago after the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning constitutional abortion protections was leaked.

The next month, a man was accused of attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh for showing up outside his home with a firearm. Congress passed new funding to extend security protections for justices’ families, which has since been followed with additional budget requests.

Garland has defended his department’s efforts to increase security resources for the justices and criminally prosecute people who threaten them.

Jordan and Issa’s letter on Tuesday at length criticizes attacks on the court from “left-wing groups and partisan activists.”

The duo also took aim at rhetoric and recent proposals for Supreme Court oversight from Senate Democrats, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) introduction of impeachment articles against Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court’s leading conservatives.

“All of these tactics are meant to intimidate conservative justices for their official actions,” wrote Jordan and Issa, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Internet, Courts and Intellectual Property.

Jordan and Issa asked for a staff-level briefing by Aug. 6 on the Justice Department’s efforts to bolster the justices’ security. The U.S. Marshals Service, which provides protection for the justices, falls under the Justice Department.

The justices also are protected by the Supreme Court Police, which is supervised by the court itself.

Appearing before Jordan’s committee last month, Garland said the justices’ safety was “in our highest priority band” and that 70 marshals were working on their protective details daily.

“For the first time in history, an Attorney General, namely myself, ordered that every Justice get 24/7 protection for himself or herself and their families at their residence and on their travel,” Garland said.

Updated at 12:49 p.m. EDT

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