Biden, lawmakers prepare for Supreme Court vacancy, react to Breyer's retirement

President Joe Biden on Wednesday declined to expand on the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer from the Supreme Court but said he will "talk about it later."

President Joe Biden on Wednesday declined to expand on reports Justice Stephen Breyer would be retiring from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, saying he would wait to speak further until the justice personally announces his plans.

"Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do, announce it on their own. There's been no announcement from Justice Breyer. Let him make whatever statement he's going to make, and I'll be happy to talk about it later," Biden said.

Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court's liberal wing and staunch defender of a nonpartisan judiciary, stepping down from the bench fulfills the wish of Democrats who lobbied for his exit and for Biden's first high court appointment.

The vacancy now paves the way for Biden to nominate a Black woman to the court -- a historic first and something he promised during the 2020 campaign.