These 27 Democrats Voted Against Extra Security for Supreme Court Justices

The House passed a bill for enhancing security for the immediate families of Supreme Court justices on Tuesday, a measure that moved up the political agenda after the court's draft opinion on abortion rights was leaked to Politico last month.

An overwhelming 90 percent of the House voted in favor of the bill, 396 ayes against 27 nays. All Republicans voted in favor—the 27 votes against the bill were all from Democrats.

The Supreme Court Police Parity Act, now heading for President Joe Biden's desk, was unanimously passed by the Senate more than a month ago, but it languished in the House until Tuesday, as Democrats attempted to broaden the legislation to include protection for families of court employees as well as the justices.

Calls from Republican lawmakers to pass the bill became more urgent as protesters gathered outside justices' homes after a draft opinion was leaked revealing the Supreme Court was preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Though the protests were largely peaceful, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell deemed them "flat-out illegal" and "an attempt to replace the rule of law with the rule of mobs."

Pressure to pass the bill was ramped up last week after a man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties after threatening to kill the justice. Nicholas Roske, 26, from California, called 911 himself from outside Kavanaugh's house saying he did not want to go through with his plan.

"Assailants like the man arrested recently for allegedly plotting against the life of one of our justices are a threat to our democracy, but with the right security they can also be stopped before they inflict harm," California's Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said on Tuesday.

But House Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy referred to "leftwing radicals" as those the justices will now be protected against.

"We are sending a clear message to leftwing radicals: you cannot intimidate Supreme Court justices," McCarthy said as the bill was passed.

The measure passed as the Supreme Court prepares to release its opinion on the major Mississippi abortion case that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling granting abortion rights in the nation.

One of the reasons brought forward as to why the 27 Democrats voted against the bill was outrage at how quickly the Senate and the House moved to protect justices, while failing to proceed with the same urgency to tighten gun control legislation in the wake of the fatal mass shootings of recent weeks.

"It's just preposterous how quickly this body will move to protect itself, and how slowly we move to protect children and people in grocery stores," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when asked why she voted against the bill.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, who also voted against the bill, said on the House floor on Tuesday that "it is incredible to stand here and listen to our Republican colleagues talk about the risks and the dangers that exist to the Supreme Court."

"I want to know where they were when the risks and the dangers existed in my community. In El Paso, Texas, where 23 innocent people were slaughtered by a white supremacist with an AK-47 [in 2019]. Where were they then? How about Uvalde? Where were they then? How about every other mass shooting? Buffalo, you name it," Escobar said.

"Last week, we brought to the floor legislation intended to protect millions of Americans, especially including children," the El Paso congresswoman added.

"The vast majority of our Republican colleagues voted against those protections for vulnerable people who don't have access to 24-hour, round-the-clock U.S. Marshals' protection. Who don't have access to round-the-clock 24/7 police protection, which Supreme Court justices have today. Supreme Court justices have far more protection than members of Congress do. But more importantly [they have more protection] than those innocent lives that were taken in innumerable cities across America."

Many among the Democrats who opposed the bill reportedly wanted protection for abortion clinics and health care providers instead of 24/7 security for the justices' families, as per a bill put forward by Rep. Escobar.

All New Jersey Democrats voted against the bill as they wanted to extend protections to include federal judges, after a federal judge's son in New Jersey was killed in a shooting at her home.

These are the Democrats who voted against the bill:

1. Rep. Cori Bush (Missouri)
2. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York)
3. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (New Jersey)
4. Rep. Bill Pascrell (New Jersey)
5. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey)
6. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey)
7. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Michigan)
8. Rep. Maxine Waters (California)
9. Rep. Albio Sires (New Jersey)
10. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (Colorado)
11. Rep. Veronica Escobar (Texas)
12. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (New York)
13. Rep. Steven Horsford (Nevada)
14. Rep. Norma Torres (California)
15. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Arizona)
16. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (Texas)
17. Rep. Jesus Garcia (Illinois)
18. Rep. Barbara Lee (California)
19. Rep. Tom Malinowski (New Jersey)
20. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts)
21. Rep. Joyce Beatty (Ohio)
22. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (New York)
23. Rep. Brenda Lawrence (Michigan)
24. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Washington)
25. Rep. Donald Payne (New Jersey)
26. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (New York)
27. Rep. Marie Newman (Illinois)

The bill was passed without the extension to families of Supreme Court employees that Democrats were campaigning for, but Democrats said they will pursue the measure separately.