Chief Justice Roberts, at 70, says he is not planning on retiring

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that he is not planning on retiring since his health is not declining.

Roberts, 70, noted on Wednesday that he had once asked two longtime friends to let him know when his health was declining and he needed to leave the bench, The Hill news outlet reported.

“I’ve sat down with them and said, ‘I want at the appropriate time’ — because you don’t always notice that you’re slipping — ‘I want the two of you to tell me if it’s time to go,’” Roberts said.

“It was a long pause, and at once, the two of them said, ‘It’s time to go.’ So I said, ‘Alright, never mind,’” he continued.

When asked about whether he was retiring anytime soon, Roberts joked, “I’m going out feet first.”

“I say that now. I mean, I’m sure if your health declines, and if you recognize that you’re a burden to the court rather than part of an assist to everybody, then, it’ll be time to go,” he added.

Roberts made the comments during a discussion in Buffalo, N.Y., that was in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

He also said he doesn't believe age has been an issue at the Supreme Court, but that there has been a problem “just a handful of times.”  

“There have been times when somebody has stayed a little longer than they should, then the other colleagues come, and it’s always really worked out, so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Roberts said.

He asserted that he still feels “pretty healthy.”

Roberts also discussed the importance of an independent judiciary as President Trump has called for the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg after he blocked the president's migrant deportation flights. 

“The judiciary is a coequal branch of government, separate from the others with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law, and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of the president,” Roberts said. “Its job is to, obviously, decide cases but, in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.”