As Townhall reported in the wake of the unprecedented leak of draft Supreme Court opinion that breached the long-standing trust among members of the High Court, a bill to increase security for Supreme Court Justices and their immediate families along with increased abilities for the Supreme Court Police to carry out protective details was quickly introduced in the Senate by John Cornyn of Texas.
Senator Cornyn was joined on the bipartisan bill by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and the legislation passed the upper chamber with unanimous consent and moved on to the House of Representatives where Democrat leadership has since upended progress and jeopardized increased security for Justices as left-wing organizations promise a "summer of rage" that has already turned violent during protests over the potential overturn of Roe.
The bill is "currently hung up in the House, based on, I think, a misguided effort to include even law clerks of the Court," Cornyn said recently of his legislation's status.
"I hope our colleagues who have some influence with the members of the House, particularly the House leadership, will encourage them to get this bill out the door," Cornyn has urged. "I shudder to think what might happen if the Supreme Court members and their family are denied this sort of protection, which the Senate has unanimously supported, because it gets slow-walked in the House," he warned.
But House Democrats, and notably Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, have blocked the bipartisan Senate bill and drafted their own partisan bill, further delaying additional security for Supreme Court Justices and their families.
Hoyer on why there is no urgency to pass Supreme Court Protections bill that passed the Senate over a wk ago.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 17, 2022
Says Democrats want to include protections to SCOTUS employees and perhaps thr leaker. The Senate bill extends police protection to immediate family mbrs of the Justices
"This partisan bill in the House ignores the good faith work that was being done here in the Senate to build consensus and expands this legislation to include divisive provisions like potentially extending police protection to the very person who leaked the draft opinion," Cornyn said, blasting the House's decision to obstruct the quickly passed Senate bill. The House Democrats' bill that ludicrously seeks to extend Supreme Court Police protection for the person(s) who leaked the draft decision and triggered all the threats and protests against Justices "stands no chance of becoming law," Cornyn added.
"I can't think of any good reason why House Democrats would delay a vote on this bipartisan bill or worse, allow the safety of the Justices' families to become a political football," Cornyn said of House Democrats' antics.
"Every day House Democrats stall so the Court’s IT guy can have round-the-clock police protection is another day the Justices’ families have to live in fear," a spokesperson for Senator Cornyn told Townhall. "It’s unconscionable."
One week ago the U.S. Senate unanimously passed my bill to enhance security for Supreme Court Justices & their families in the face of threats.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 16, 2022
So far, the House has refused to take up this critical legislation, leaving the Justices families at risk.
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