Justice Kagan on the 7% Increase in the Funding Request for the Court: ‘Recent Growth in the Court’s Budget Has Been Almost Entirely for Security Expenses’

EXCERPT:

KAGAN: “We carry out our work with relatively modest funding. Our budget represents just two percent of the judiciary Branch’s total funding, which in turn represents one tenth of one percent of the federal budget. Nonetheless, we take our responsibility as fiscal stewards very seriously. In fiscal year 2027, the court is requesting an additional $14 million, a 7 percent increase for salaries and expenses. Over the last five fiscal years, the Supreme Court’s funding needs have grown on average 15 percent per year. Aside from annual inflationary increases, recent growth in the court’s budget has been almost entirely for security expenses. The majority of last year’s funding increase went to shifting the responsibility for residential security from the Marshall Service to the Supreme Court police.”