Durbin, top Democrat on the Senate's Judiciary Committee from 2021 until this year, led the 2022 confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to sit on the nation's high court. On Wednesday, Durbin said in a video that he has "always tried to stand up to power."

Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Durbin served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives — winning his first election to Congress in 1982.

The 80-year-old added that “a strong Democratic bench” would be “ready to serve” in his place — without naming any immediate successors.