US Marshals Tell Congress More Money is ‘Vital’ as Threats Rise

The Justice Department agency tasked with protecting the federal judiciary asked Congress for money to hire dozens more law enforcement agents for protective details, as threats to judges and other public officials have heightened.

The US Marshals Service requested an extra $34 million on Friday for 78 additional positions, including 75 deputy US marshals, within its judicial security division to help the agency keep up with an increased need for protective details safeguarding public officials.

The agency is handling between five and nine separate protective details a year, an increase from one to two full-time details annually a few years ago, according to the agency’s request. These extra protective details, which each require 20 deputy US marshals, have forced the agency to “pull individuals from other mission areas repeatedly” and exhaust resources, threatening officer safety, the request says.

“With the threat environment unlikely to decrease in the foreseeable future, the addition of more permanent personnel is vital to detail culture, mission-critical facility access, maintaining familiarization between protected persons and detail personnel, and minimizing mission risk,” the agency said in budget documents.

Those details are on top of the agency’s existing 24/7 security details outside the homes of the Supreme Court justices. That mission has already strained the Marshals Services’ resources since the agency began the round-the-clock protection details following an assassination attempt at Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s residence in 2022.

The additional requested positions include 60 deputy US marshals for protective details, which would support three full-time rotating teams, “that will be able to rapidly deploy to a changing threat environment.” It also includes 18 new positions to support field operations, as well as light armored vehicles, training, and specialized surveillance operations, according to the budget request.

The request for more deputies is part of the Marshals Service’s broader ask for $2.18 billion in funding for fiscal 2027, which begins Oct. 1, up from about $1.7 billion this year.

The Marshals Service has faced staffing shortages, while navigating rising threats to judges and other public officials.

The law enforcement agency logged 564 threats to federal judges last fiscal year, up from 509 the year prior, according to its data. Federal judges have also reported receiving unsolicited pizza deliveries, a signal the sender knows the judge’s personal address. Some of the deliveries have been sent in the name of Daniel Anderl, the son of a New Jersey federal judge who was murdered by a disgruntled attorney posing as a delivery driver.

Federal judges have said they have to keep the agency’s staffing in mind when scheduling court hearings to ensure there are marshals available to guard courtrooms and transport defendants. Some judges have described having to cancel or reschedule hearings because of the shortage.

Marshals have also been deployed for other missions under the Trump administration, including assisting with federal immigration enforcement. The agency’s budget request also includes an extra $150 million “to support the Administration’s key priority of securing the border.” This funding would cover 533 positions, including 275 deputy US marshals, eight lawyers, and 100 federal enforcement officers, as well as information technology improvements, according to budget documents.

Increased immigration enforcement operations, fueled by funding infusions to the Department of Homeland Security, have led to more immigration-related criminal arrests, which “create immense pressure” on the Marshals Service, the request says.

Without more money, the agency said it “could turn into a ‘bottleneck’ in the Federal criminal justice process.”

Expanded immigration enforcement leads to more prisoners in Marshals Service custody, and higher numbers of defendants will also likely result in more threats to judges and other judiciary employees, which in turn adds to the number of protective details marshals are staffing, the request says.