Despite the arrest Wednesday of an armed man who allegedly claimed he intended to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended not passing a House bill seeking to increase security for the justices’ homes, and gruffly responded to a reporter, “I don’t know what you’re talking about … nobody is in danger.”
On Thursday – just one day after 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home and then charged with attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice – Pelosi was about to leave her weekly press conference when she responded brusquely to a reporter who shouted out to her, “You said the justices are protected, but there was an attempt on Justice Kavanaugh’s life.”
“And he’s protected,” Pelosi retorted. “He’s protected. The justices are protected.”
https://twitter.com/thejcoop/status/1534928082150227969
Referring to the bill that stalled in the House that seeks to increase security for the families of the Supreme Court justices, Pelosi said, “This issue is not about the justices. It’s about staff and the rest,” and added:
We’re working together on a bill that the Senate will be able to approve of, because that’s what — we can pass whatever we want here. We want it to be able to pass the Senate. So, I don’t know what you’re talking about, because evidently you haven’t seen what the debate is — not debate, but language is.
“There will be a bill,” Pelosi ended the exchange. “But no one is in danger over the weekend because of our not having a bill.”
BREAKING: House Democrats just BLOCKED a bill to provide more security for Supreme Court justices and their families.
This passed unanimously in the Senate, yet Speaker Pelosi refuses to bring it up for a vote—despite today's foiled plot to kill Justice Kavanaugh. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/W94z8xh90u
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 9, 2022
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reportedly told CNN they want the bill to include protection for Supreme Court employees as well.
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) also reportedly said Wednesday he is working with the House on a compromise bill that would increase security for clerks and other Supreme Court staff.
“I’ve actually been engaging with several House members about how we come to a negotiated compromise on that bill and move it forward promptly,” Coons stated, pointing to a debate over “a relatively simple issue of whether or not the scope of it also includes clerks and other staff.”
“I think we can find a compromise in, in allowing the discretion of what police or public safety resources are dedicated to be at the discretion of the head of public safety related to the Supreme Court,” Coons reportedly said.
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Supreme Court Justices” by Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.
