Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan will testify before Congress next Tuesday to discuss the court’s budgetary needs from the federal government.
The justices will face questions from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, as well as the Senate Appropriations Committee. A hearing with justices at the House has not occurred since 2019, according to Punchbowl News.
NEWS: Supreme Court Justices will testify before the House Appropriations Committee on July 14.
— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) July 7, 2026
Justices last appeared before House members in 2019. pic.twitter.com/r2HutGPy8B
The upcoming hearings come at an interesting time for the court, which faced a mix of praise and criticism over recent rulings, especially over birthright citizenship and women’s sports cases.
However, it seems unlikely the meetings could result in compelling soundbites. The hearings are expected to be largely budget focused, as Politico reported that the Supreme Court wants $14 million more to protect the members of the high-level bench. In addition, the outlet reported that questions from lawmakers are likely to be on costs and not legal hypotheticals.
Other than the recent rulings, the court made headlines after NPR retracted a story about Justice Samuel Alito retiring. No imminent retirements on the court are currently expected, but an opening during President Donald Trump’s term would lead to a fourth pick for the president on the court.
However, Trump joked about the possibility of nominating Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who’s an attorney, to the Supreme Court on Monday, Townhall reported.
Donald Trump: If I appointed Ted Cruz to the Supreme Court, he'd get 100 votes.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 6, 2026
"He's the ONLY ONE I can think of that's gonna get 100 votes."
"ALL Republicans will vote for him. ALL Democrats will vote for him, because they want to get him the hell out of the Senate!" pic.twitter.com/Y8hvrzp3LS
“All Republicans will vote for him, all Democrats will vote for him, because they want to get him the hell out of the Senate,” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Cruz at the Trump Accounts launch event.
“If I was having a hard time with getting the votes, I would appoint Ted Cruz, I would get 100% – a guarantee,” he continued.