Supreme Court Justices to Testify Before Congress on July 14

From left, Supreme Justices Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in the Capitol on Feb. 24. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

By Michael Macagnone and Aidan Quigley

Posted July 7, 2026 at 7:19pm

Supreme Court justices are scheduled to appear before both Senate and House appropriators next week, marking the first time since 2019 that justices will face lawmakers.

Hearing Details

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are slated to testify before the Senate and House Financial Services Appropriations subcommittees on July 14 to discuss the high court’s fiscal 2027 budget request.

Budget Requests

• Supreme Court request: $225.1 million, an approximately 10% increase over fiscal 2026 enacted funding.
• $207 million for salaries and expenses
• $18.1 million for care of the Supreme Court building and grounds

• Federal judiciary overall request: $9.7 billion in the coming fiscal year, a roughly $500 million increase from current funding. Much of these increases would go toward staff and staff salaries across federal appellate and district courts.

• House Financial Services spending bill: Would provide $10 billion for the judiciary, including $207 million for the Supreme Court, according to a GOP summary. Senate appropriators have yet to release their version of the bill.

Broader Context

While next week’s hearings are designed to focus on the budget, the justices will likely face questions about recent cases and the court as an institution.

The hearings come two weeks after the justices closed out their term, issuing decisions that:

• Rebuffed President Donald Trump’s worldwide tariff regime
• Rejected his attempt to redefine citizenship through executive order
• Supercharged ongoing redistricting disputes
• Gave presidents more power to fire federal officials

Previous Calls for Testimony

Democrats sought to have several justices testify during the Biden administration amid concerns over alleged ethical lapses by several members of the high court. That included a request from Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., to have Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. meet with senators about the court’s ethics. Roberts rebuffed Durbin’s request.

The court has also faced scrutiny from Republicans over its failure to identify the person who leaked a draft of the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 decision that overturned a constitutional right to an abortion. An internal probe published by the court found lax security measures and gaps in information technology.

Following the leak of that decision, protestors appeared outside the justices’ homes, and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh faced an abandoned assassination attempt. The justices have received round-the-clock protection since then from U.S. Marshals and Supreme Court police, leading to multiple requests for increased security funding.

Scheduling History

Justices had been expected to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee in May, but that hearing was rescheduled.

The House Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee had also contemplated a hearing with the justices in May, but Chairman David Joyce, R-Ohio, said at the time that it would not work with the busy schedules of the chamber and the justices.

Previous Appearances

• 2019: Kagan and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. appeared before the House Financial Services Subcommittee — the most recent time justices appeared before House members.
• 2011: Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Antonin Scalia testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee — the last time justices appeared at a Senate hearing.