Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would shift control of the U.S. Marshals Service from the executive branch to the federal judiciary, in an effort to insulate the agency from political interference and guarantee that judges receive strong security protections.
The move comes as President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and other top government officials this year rain down criticism on judges that are ruling against the administration in scores of court challenges. The Marshals protect judges, but they also report to the U.S. attorney general, not to the courts themselves.
Those critiques gave rise to fears that the Marshals could be caught in the middle of a power struggle if the White House or Justice Department direct them to ignore a court order or to yank security from judges, the Democrats said.
Judges have faced violent threats and calls for impeachment because of their work.
"Today, independent judges must rely on the executive branch, whose cases are often in front of them, for personal security," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., in a written statement. "I have seen how threats of violence to members of Congress pressure them into staying silent or influence their votes on the House floor. We cannot allow the same calculations to creep into the deliberations of independent judges."
The legislation would move the Marshals out of the control of the Justice Department and create a special board whose members include the Chief Justice of the United States and the Judicial Conference, the courts' policymaking body. It's modeled on the structure for running the U.S. Capitol Police.
The bill, known as the Maintaining Authority and Restoring Security to Halt the Abuse of Law Act, is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Swalwell; Jamie Raskin of Maryland; and Hank Johnson of Georgia. A companion bill in the Senate is led by Cory Booker of New Jersey; Chuck Schumer of New York; Alex Padilla of California; and Adam Schiff of California.
The legislation may not get through a Congress controlled by Republicans but is meant to send a signal about Democrats' concern about the issue of judicial security.
A spokesman for the Marshals declined comment, citing the pending legislation.
Threats against judges are not a hypothetical issue. The son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of New Jersey was fatally shot in their home by a frustrated litigant who had appeared in her courtroom.
This year, judges and their family members have been receiving hundreds of unsolicited pizza deliveries in seven different U.S. states, in an apparent effort to intimidate the judges and signal that their home addresses are known, lawmakers said. Some of the deliveries have been placed in the name of Salas's deceased son, Daniel Anderl.
"Since 1789, the U.S. Marshals have valiantly protected our nation's judges and enforced court orders," Sen. Booker said. "But their dual accountability to the executive branch and the judicial branch paves the way toward a constitutional crisis."
Alex Aronson, a former congressional aide who now serves as executive director of the group Court Accountability, said the bill is a "critical bolster for checks and balances."
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