The Supreme Court's conservative justices became objects of hate last year after they voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh even being targeted for assassination.

While that fact has necessitated beefed up security measures, Democrats have been accused of threatening to defund them unless the Supreme Court agrees to a new code of ethics.

Republicans say Democrats are using security of to blackmail

That message came from Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who alleged during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday that Democrats are attempting to blackmail the nation's highest judicial body.

Now Democrats threaten to cut off security funding for Supreme Court - unless the Justices do what Dems want. This is AFTER an assassin tried to kill Justice Kavanaugh. Talk about threatening the rule of law pic.twitter.com/5HmtxV23FW

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 2, 2023

"The threat is, 'We will deny you security unless you do what we want. We will deny you security unless you do what we want,'" the Washington Examiner quoted Hawley as saying.

The Examiner noted that Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz agreed, and pointed to a recent interview Justice Samuel Alito gave to the Wall Street Journal.

Justice Alito is "not really supposed to go anyplace by myself"

"I don’t feel physically unsafe, because we now have a lot of protection," Alito said, adding that he has to be "driven around in basically a tank" and is "not really supposed to go anyplace by myself without the tank and my members of the police force."

Hawley and Cruz's claims came after 15 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus have proposed an addition to next year's Supreme Court funding bill which would require adoption of new ethical rules.

Such demands arose after Justice Clarence Thomas was accused by a left-wing news outlet of going on expensive vacations with a conservative mega donor.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham lambasted liberals this week for going after Thomas despite having ignored questionable behavior by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Graham points to double standard

In one example, he recalled how Democrats did not voice objections in 1998 when the liberal icon donated a signed copy of one of her decisions to the National Organization for Women (NOW) Legal Defense Fund to sell at a fundraiser.

Here’s pro-abortion @NationalNOW 1998 auction list, item 49, RBG autographed copy of her VMI opinion. As @LindseyGrahamSC said, imagine if Justice Alito donated signed Dobbs opinion to @SBAprolife?? But crickets from the Left on RBG’s conduct. @SenJudiciaryGOP pic.twitter.com/OhFmacJV9c

— Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) May 2, 2023

"All hell would break loose in this country," the Republican senator declared before adding, "Why didn’t all hell break loose in 1998?…I think we all know the answer to that."