Inside Biden's calculated silence on Breyer's retirement
CNN
President Joe Biden received a much-needed political opening on Wednesday. But neither he, nor anyone close to him, appeared ready to celebrate it.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement plans were publicly revealed before the White House or the justice himself was expecting it, leading to a muted response from Biden and his aides. The White House -- which had learned of Breyer's plans last week, though the justice did not inform the President directly -- had been preparing for the moment for more than a year. But a subdued reaction from Biden was indicative of something he has made clear for months: He won't abide any pressure from his team, however subtle, on Breyer to step down.
"Let him make whatever statement he's going to make," the President said in the State Dining Room as a group of chief executives looked on. "And I'll be happy to talk about it later."
President Joe Biden asserted Friday that Hamas has been degraded to a point where it can no longer carry out the type of attack that launched the current 8-month conflict in Gaza, laying out a three-phase proposal Israel has submitted to wind down the grinding crisis as he declared, “It’s time for this war to end.