Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made a quip Wednesday about the Justice Department's "busy" schedule.

"I know that some of you were here in March when I spoke at the National Health Policy Conference. That was only seven months ago, but a lot has happened since then," the DOJ's No. 2 official said towards the beginning of a speech at a Medicaid conference in Washington, D.C., according to prepared remarks. "You may have noticed. We have been very busy at the Department of Justice."

The speech, which focused on the opioid epidemic, followed a Bloomberg report Wednesday morning that said Rosenstein has been pushing special counsel Robert Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation as soon as possible.

[Byron York: Rosenstein talks to press, but not to Congress; Republicans irate]

The public appearance also comes days after Rosenstein pulled out of a meeting with congressional investigators eager to grill him on a New York Times report on him discussing secretly recording Trump and invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to oust the president after FBI Director James Comey was fired in May 2017.

Rosenstein has denied considering such actions.

Rosenstein peppered some positive reviews of Trump throughout his speech, saying at one point the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions "understand that the extent of opioid addiction in America is staggering."

He also said Trump "set the bold and ambitious goal of reducing opioid prescription rates by one-third in three years. That will make a major impact."