The Supreme Court is asking Congress for $6.5 million to begin designing a new visitor security screening facility outside its Capitol Hill building as threats against the justices continue to climb.

The request is part of the court's proposed $228 million budget for fiscal 2027, an increase of about $20 million over current funding. The project would relocate visitor screening outside the courthouse, similar to the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.

The funding request comes as Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett are scheduled to testify Tuesday before House and Senate appropriations panels, marking the first time Supreme Court justices have appeared before Congress to defend the court's budget since 2019.

The proposal also seeks $14.6 million to continue expanding the Supreme Court Police force and to enhance security for justices traveling outside Washington. Another budget request would fund a regional command post outside the court complex that the documents say would "improve reaction time in case of an emergency."

The court is also asking for $2.3 million to hire engineers and software developers to protect its systems from "quickly evolving cyberthreats."

The expanded security push follows a string of threats and attacks targeting members of the high court.

In 2022, an armed California man was arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home after the leak of the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Prosecutors said he intended to kill the justice.

More recently, authorities investigated a swatting incident at Justice Amy Coney Barrett's Virginia home. Last year, police also responded to a false report of a pipe bomb at the South Carolina home of one of Barrett's sisters.

Congress has generally backed additional security funding for the court on a bipartisan basis, though lawmakers have also pressed the justices to explain how the money is being spent.

"I want to give them all of the security they need," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said earlier this year.

But, she added, "the court has to come up here, tell us what you're doing. We have no idea what you spend the money on."

Although Tuesday's hearings are expected to focus on the budget, lawmakers could also raise questions about ethics and several of the court's recent high-profile rulings.

Chief Justice John Roberts declined a congressional invitation to testify in 2023, writing that such appearances are "exceedingly rare, as one might expect in light of separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence."

Justice Clarence Thomas recently acknowledged how dramatically life has changed for the justices.

"Because of security concerns, we're not able to move around as much as I used to," Thomas said in May.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, threats against federal judges and their families have increased significantly in recent years. The federal law enforcement agency reported a 57% increase in significant security incidents involving the judiciary, with that number expected to climb again in fiscal 2026.