GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, President Biden is# unveiling three proposed reforms in response## to legal, ethical and political controversies# swirling around the U.S. Supreme Court, namely,## finding former presidents are largely# immune from criminal prosecution,## gifts received and initially unreported by# justices, and the makeup of the court itself.

President Biden called for the changes at# an event in Austin, Texas, this afternoon.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States:# We can and must be protected and expand our## civil rights in America.

We can and must# prevent abuse of presidential power and## restore faith in the Supreme Court.

We can and# must strengthen the guardrails of democracy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our White House correspondent,## Laura Barron-Lopez, joins us# now to unpack all of this.

Good to see you, Laura.

So what is President Biden prop.. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, this was a# long time coming for President Biden.

And, today, he endorsed major reforms# to the Supreme Court, including term## limits for Supreme Court justices, a binding# code of conduct for Supreme Court justices,## and then a constitutional amendment# that would make it so there is no## presidential immunity from prosecution# for crimes committed while in office.

And for the term limits, it would make it so a# president could appoint a justice every two years,## and they would spend 18 years on the court,# rather than receiving a lifetime appointment.

And then, when it comes to the code of ethics,# the justices would have to recuse themselves## from cases in which they or their spouses have# financial or other conflicts of interest.

And,## of course, that immunity, the presidential# immunity constitutional amendment is in## response to the Supreme Court ruling that a# president has brought immunity for official acts.

GEOFF BENNETT: So the White House# says these proposals are popular,## but are they politically feasible?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So all of these would# have to be passed through Congress, Geoff.

And most Republicans in Congress have opposed# reforms like this.

House Speaker Mike Johnson## said today that these proposals would be dead on# arrival in the House.

And to pass -- so to pass## these, any Democratic president would need# to have strong majorities in both chambers.

Specifically, two of these would have to be passed# through constitutional amendment, the term limits## as well as the presidential immunity amendment.# And that would require a two-thirds majority## of both chambers and three-quarters of state# legislators to ratify constitutional amendments.

GEOFF BENNETT: So here's one question,# Laura.

Why now?

Because, as you well know,## President Biden had resisted Supreme# Court reform for a long time.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: This is an election year,## Geoff.

And so this is a big way for President# Biden to essen..

It's something that progressives have# pushed him on since the 2020 campaign.## They have wanted to see him endure some Supreme# Court reforms.

They, of course, really wanted,## he faced a lot of pressure, to expand the# number of justices on the Supreme Court.

And I spoke to Bob Bauer, who sat on# the president's Supreme Court reform## commission a few years ago.

And he said# -- Bob Bauer said that court expansion## would further erode the public's# confidence in the Supreme Court.

BOB BAUER, Attorney: I don't think# that there is much of a future to the## proposals for court packing or court# expansion.

I think, on the merits,## there are more negatives than positives.

We# saw support for term limits in a way that we## didn't see for court expansion or court# packing from left and right, Democrats## and Republicans,quite wide support reflected in# the record that we created for the commission.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As Bob Bauer said# there, much more bipartisan support for## term limits for justices.

And also recently,# Justice Kagan said that -- acknowledged that## she thought that there should be a# binding code of ethics for justices.

But the enforcement mechanism is the thing that# Justice Kagan said would be difficult, saying## that potentially it could be lower court judges# that end up enforcing that for the Supreme Court.

GEOFF BENNETT: Is this something# that Vice President Harris,## the likely Democratic nominee, is# this something that she will champion?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It is.

So Vice President Harr.. the proposal.

She said that -- quote# -- "These popular reforms will help to## restore confidence in the court, strengthen our# democracy, and ensure no one is above the law."

So she is squarely behind President Biden on# this.

And, again, her campaign feels that this## is a way to energize the base.

Democrats# now are trying to make the Supreme Court## a wedge issue the way Republicans have# in the past, and they feel that it's## a good possibility for them to do this,# especially after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

GEOFF BENNETT: Laura# Barron-Lopez, thanks, as always.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: We appreciate it.