Biden doesn't rule out expanding Supreme Court

Joe Biden says he is willing to take a position before Election Day on the idea of expanding the Supreme Court "depending on how" Republicans handle Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the court.

Biden has previously refused to answer the question directly, calling the question a distraction from Republicans' rush to confirm Barrett before Election Day.

His latest answer in an ABC News town hall suggests Biden might be willing to consider some Democrats' call to expand the court as a counter to GOP power plays on the court in recent years.

Biden repeated Thursday that he's "not a fan" so-called "court packing." But he also said he believes Republicans are violating the spirit of the Constitution with a confirmation process once early voting has begun in a presidential election.

Barrett was nominated after liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death in September.

Republicans four years ago refused to consider President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to succeed conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February of that presidential election year.