Federal Judges Consider Their Own Security Force as Threats Rise

Federal judges, worried that the president could withdraw the U.S. marshals protecting them in retaliation for ruling against his administration, are considering managing their own security force as threats to the judiciary are rising.

The Wall Street Journal reports that judges discussed the idea of creating their own security detail behind closed doors at the semiannual meeting of the Judicial Conference, national policymaking body for the federal courts, in early March. Security committee members described increased threats in the wake of Trump’s attacks.

The judiciary’s fears of Trump’s reprisal are not unfounded. The president has withdrawn security protection in the past from those he perceives as his enemies, including his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former national security advisor John Bolton. Trump also recently ended Secret Service protection for former president Joe Biden’s adult children.

Democrats in Congress share the judges’ concern. Led by Sen. Cory Booker, they introduced a bill last week that would transfer control of the U.S. Marshals from the executive to the judicial branch, allowing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Judicial Conference to appoint a director.

“President Trump has made it abundantly clear through his words and actions that he does not respect the law, court orders, the safety of our judges, or our institutions,” Booker said in a statement. “Congress must act to move the bureau into the judicial branch. Our U.S. Marshals are critical to protecting the rule of law, and they must be able to do their jobs without political interference.”

According to a Reuters investigation, at least 11 federal judges’ families have dealt with threats of violence or harassment following rulings against the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has received several death threats to his house. Someone sent a SWAT team to the home of U.S. District Judge Judge John Coughenour after he overturned one of Trump’s executive orders, the Journal reported. An email to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s sister claimed a pipe bomb was in her mailbox, although that message turned out to be a hoax. Police said that other households related to Barrett have received attempted pizza deliveries. Many judges and their families have experienced harassment in the form of pizza deliveries to their homes, which they interpret as a message that their detractors know where they live. According to a Reuters investigation, at least 11 federal judges’ families have dealt with threats of violence or harassment following rulings against the Trump administration.

Threats to judges and their families “are ultimately threats to constitutional government. It’s as simple as that,” U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan told Reuters.

Top figures on the far right — including the president, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Republican lawmakers — have openly attacked judges and their families when judges have issued rulings against the administration.

The Trump administration has even targeted a judge directly, arresting Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan under the accusation she allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested that Dugan is “deranged” and believes herself to be “above the law.”

A Justice Department official said that federal marshals “will continue to protect the safety and security of federal judges.”

“Any suggestion to the contrary is not only absurd but wrong,” the official said in a statement to the Journal from the White House.

Despite rising threats, funding and staffing for the U.S. Marshals has remained stagnant over the last several years. Courthouse security also needs more funding, judges told the Journal.

Threats toward prosecutors and judges have been escalating ever since the 2020 presidential election. Death threats, intimidation, doxxing, and harassment are becoming increasingly commonplace. Ronald Davis, a former director of the U.S. Marshals, told ABC News in February that threats against judges have grown at an “alarming rate.”

According to data from the U.S. Marshals, the number of judges receiving threats more than doubled between 2019 and 2024. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote of “a significant uptick in identified threats at all levels of the judiciary” in his 2024 year-end report. Since then, Trump and his acolytes have only increased their ire toward the judiciary as judges issue rulings against the administration’s immigration policies, attempts to decimate the federal bureaucracy, and more.

Anti-judicial rhetoric online rose by 327 percent between May 2024 and March 2025, according to a study by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published earlier this month. The study’s findings “suggest that a rise in anti-democratic language from prominent American figures on the far right likely influenced extremists on social media to also attack the judiciary, leading to large increases in violent language and calls for impeachment targeting judges on several platforms.”

Threats against the judiciary on TikTok, GPAHE found in a study published in March, increased by 90 percent in the first two months of this year. Threats on Truth Social, the platform owned by the president, nearly doubled (94 percent increase).