House passes expanded security for Supreme Court justices, family members

The Democrat-led House on Tuesday passed a measure to expand security for Supreme Court justices and their family members. 

The bill passed by a 396-27, with only Democrats voting no.

The Senate last month unanimously passed the bill, which would extend the same 24 hour security to Supreme Court justices and their families that other top government officials receive.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said before the vote that House Democrats earlier this week refused to vote on the bill on three separate occasions and that there was "no reason" to delay the vote. 

The California Republican on Tuesday accused House Democrats of stalling a bill, which they altered to include protection for Supreme Court employees.

However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Republican senators would not provide enough votes to pass that version in the upper chamber.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had refused to hold vote on the Senate version, saying, "This issue is not about the justices, it’s about staff and the rest. The justices are protected."

Concerns over the safety of justices heightened after a man armed with a gun was arrested last week outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The man said he had planned to kill Kavanaugh because he was angry about a leaked draft opinion that suggested the high court's conservative majority would ruled on a Mississippi abortion bill that will effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, a decades-old decision that gives women the constitutional right to get an abortion.

The leaked opinion, in May, also resulted in protests outside the homes of several justices.

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision on the Mississippi case by the end of the month and as soon as Wednesday – which is expected to bring protests outside of the court building, in Washington, D.C., and at the homes of justices.