ONE MONTH LATER: House Passes Supreme Court Security Bill

Mary Margaret OlohanJune 14, 2022

Over a month after the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion suggesting that the court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, the United States House of Representatives has finally passed a bill to provide security for the families of the Supreme Court justices.

News that the bill passed the House also comes over a month after the legislation passed the Senate and about a week after authorities arrested a man near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That man claimed that he intended to murder the justice, authorities said.

Authorities arrested Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, early in the morning on June 8. A Department of Justice affidavit details how Roske allegedly traveled to Kavanaugh’s home armed with weapons and burglary tools with the intent to kill the justice and prevent him from ruling on Second Amendment and abortion cases.

The Supreme Court safety legislation, which passed the House in a 396 to 27 vote, according to The Washington Post, now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden.

All 27 votes against the bill were from Democrats.

Senate Republicans had threatened Monday evening that they would block a different House bill that sought to protect the families of Supreme Court staffers rather than just the families of the Supreme Court justices.

“The security issue is related to the Supreme Court justices, not to nameless staff that no one knows,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters Monday evening.

Hours after this, The Washington Post reported, Democrats changed their course, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) saying the Senate’s bill is “the only thing that can pass, frankly, and we want to get it done.”

On Monday, for the third time, GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) requested unanimous consent to expedite the passage of a security bill to protect the Supreme Court justices.

McCarthy emphasized that “there is no reason” to delay the proposal, asking for immediate consideration in the House.

His request was declined.

“I do not understand why we would risk that,” McCarthy said in remarks Monday afternoon, pointing out that the bill was introduced more than a month ago. “I do not understand why you’ll make sure that the Capitol is protected right now knowing that something could happen … or something could happen at the Supreme Court this week, but you won’t protect those justices.”

McCarthy also drew on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) Thursday claim that “the justices are protected,” a remark that came only a few days after Roske’s arrest.

“This issue is not about the justices, it’s about staff and the rest,” Pelosi said, explaining why the House would be voting on the Supreme Court security bill the following week. “The justices are protected; you saw the attorney general even double down on that.”

“How can you make that statement the same week?” demanded McCarthy, adding that Pelosi’s statement “makes no sense.”

The GOP leader warned Democrats that if they change the Supreme Court security bill, sending it back to the Senate instead of passing it, “the country will know why.”

“Cause if you change the bill and move it back to the Senate, you’re trying to kill it,” he said, emphasizing that every senator had voted for the security bill. “You’re trying to delay it. That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

“If you think something else needs to be added, run it by itself,” he added. “I think you’re jeopardizing people’s lives. I think you’re jeopardizing the safety of the Supreme Court.”

The Senate passed the legislation unanimously in May, but it had been stalled in the House of Representatives, prompting sharp criticism from Republicans who said that the bill should be passed immediately to protect the justices.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire.