A slew of Democratic lawmakers voted Tuesday against a bill that would expand protections for Supreme Court justices and their families following the arrest of a man claiming he wanted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Supreme Court safety legislation, which passed the House in a 396 to 27 vote, now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden.
All 27 votes against the bill were from Democrats: Joyce Beatty of Ohio, Jamaal Bowman 0f New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Adriano Espaillat of New York, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, Steven Horsford of Nevada, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, and Barbara Lee of California.
In addition, Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, Marie Newman of Illinois, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, Donald Payne of New Jersey, Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Mike Sherrill of New Jersey, Albio Sires of New Jersey, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Norma Torres of California, Nydia Velazquez of New York, Maxine Waters of California, and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey voted against the bill protecting the Supreme Court justices and their families.
Democrat @RepJayapal voted AGAINST providing additional security to Supreme Court justices and their families
Jayapal has said Supreme Court justices “do not have the right” to issue an opinion in the Dobbs case https://t.co/2Nh5S8Oo9f
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) June 14, 2022
The Senate had passed the legislation unanimously in May, but it has been stalled in the House of Representatives, prompting sharp criticism from Republicans who said that the bill should be passed immediately to protect the justices.
Authorities arrested Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, early in the morning on June 8. A Department of Justice affidavit details how Roske allegedly traveled to Kavanaugh’s home armed with weapons and burglary tools with the intent to kill the justice and prevent him from ruling on Second Amendment and abortion cases.