Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said Thursday that he is concerned Congress could make decisions that affect the high court’s funding.
“Congress can turn off the lights at the Supreme Court and stop everything from happening if they want to defund their activities. And there are many, many, many other things that they can do, or at least try to do,” Alito said at a Federalist Society event on Thursday.
“So, it is important to preserve the independence of the judiciary,” he remarked, adding that “if that is eliminated, then the Constitution as adopted in 1789 will no longer be the same.”
Alito said at the event that the judiciary is the least powerful branch of the government, compared with Congress and the executive. But he still warned that judges can wield too much power and added that some lower-court judges have issued rulings blocking presidents’ orders that he believes were unjustified.
“If you think about a hand grenade, a 500-pound bomb and a nuclear weapon,” he said, “the hand grenade is the least dangerous. But that is not to say that it is not dangerous.”
Judges can be “dedicated” and “skillful,” but Alito warned, “they’re not perfect, and they make mistakes.”
“And in some instances, I think they have gone far astray in abuse of their powers.”
Over the summer, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified before Congress to seek more security funding for the Supreme Court amid rising threats against the institution, including after a 2022 leak of an opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, penned by Alito.
Following the 2022 leak, a suspect, Nicholas Roske, was arrested for the attempted assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside his home. Roske was later convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison.
“Maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett told a House committee in mid-July.
The justice added that security-related threats have also forced her children to “think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about.”
Alito’s comments Thursday came after Democrats made significant gains during the midterm elections earlier this month and regained control over both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Some Democratic lawmakers have proposed changes to the Supreme Court, including term limits on justices, who are appointed by a president to serve for life unless they resign or are impeached and removed.
In July, a group of Democratic senators said they want 18-year term limits and “regularized appointments” for justices, with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) arguing in a statement that the institution has seen “unacceptable levels of politicization.”
Beyond term limits, some Democratic members have said they want to expand the court past the nine-member limit. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said in an NBC interview on Aug. 30 he thought the court should expand to 13 members.
Earlier this year, the House rejected an effort to cap the Supreme Court at nine justices. A resolution introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) would have proposed a constitutional amendment.
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