US judges warn of threats, ask Congress for more security funding
May 14 (Reuters) - Key members of the U.S. federal judiciary asked lawmakers to increase security funding on Wednesday, as the court system grapples with a rising number of threats against judges who have blocked parts of the Trump administration's agenda.
U.S. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve told a U.S. House of Representatives panel that increasing security spending to $892 million, up 19% from the current fiscal year, would enable the court system to respond to rising threats directed at judges and to ensure their safety and that of their families.
Tensions are high between the administration of Republican President Donald Trump and the judiciary, whose members have been targeted by a barrage of threats after blocking parts of Trump's immigration and cost-cutting agenda.
Judge Robert Conrad, who heads the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary's administrative arm, told lawmakers that threats of reprisals and retribution erode the rule of law.
"The independence of the judicial branch is jeopardized when judges are threatened with harm or impeachment on the basis of their rulings," he said. "Our constitutional system depends on judges who are sworn to administer justice without respect to persons."
Trump and his allies have called judges who have ruled against his administration "crooked," "conflicted" and "rogue," with the White House arguing they are intruding on his authority. Conservative lawmakers in the Republican-led House have even moved to impeach some of the judges.
A Reuters investigation this month identified at least 11 federal judges whose families have faced threats of violence or harassment after they ruled against the Trump administration. Pizzas have also been sent anonymously to the homes of several judges and their relatives, which authorities view as a form of intimidation.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, St. Eve and Conrad, who were both appointed by Republican presidents, urged lawmakers to increase spending on the judiciary by 9.3% in the 2026 fiscal year to $9.4 billion, even as Republicans in Congress look to slash spending on the government.
St. Eve, an appellate judge who chairs the U.S. Judicial Conference, the budget committee for the judiciary's policymaking arm, said the $892 million security increase included in the budget request was warranted to address projects the courts deferred following two consecutive years of flat funding.
She said an increased security budget would help pay for court security officers, screening and other security equipment at courthouses, and a program that 77% of active judges are enrolled in that helps them scrub their home addresses and other personal information from the internet.
While committee members from both parties said they understood the need to ensure judges' security, Representative Michael Cloud, a Republican from Texas, called it dangerous for Conrad to discuss calls to impeach judges in combination with the need to protect them from harmful threats.
He said he was disappointed with Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' decision in March to publicly rebuke Trump for calling for the impeachment of one judge and said district court judges who restricted Trump's executive authority were going "well beyond" the Constitution.
"Impeachment is a constitutional role to hold the judiciary accountable," Cloud said.
The U.S. Constitution provides that the grounds for impeachment are treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Conrad told Cloud that when individuals disagree with judges' decisions, "our tradition of justice has been to challenge those rulings, to appeal them, and to get the ruling that you think as a litigant you're entitled to."
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