It is hard to see anyone on President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees getting past Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, or Susan Collins, R-Maine, because of the issue of legal abortion and other issues, ex-President Bill Clinton's one-time press secretary Joe Lockhart said Monday.
"Are we going to turn back the clock a half a century," Lockhart told CNN's "New Day." "It will be a real test for [Collins and Murkowski] on how serious their convictions are on the issue. It is almost impossible to see them voting for someone on that list."
Collins said Sunday she will oppose any nominee who she believes will rule to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and she will only back a justice who shows respect for already-settled laws.
Such a judge, Collins said, "would not be acceptable to me because that would indicate an activist agenda."
Murkowski is a moderate, pro-choice supporter like Collins.
Lockhart also commented on weekend demonstrations concerning immigration, commenting he was watching the protests and felt the message was more about abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement than it was about reuniting migrant children with their parents.
"That is a message that resonated across party lines, yet you feel like the Democrats walked into the situation where they're allowing it to be about ICE," he said."The story just won't go away. I don't think it is ultimately going to be about ICE abolished or reinforced."
He added he thinks it is "astounding" the separation matter has gone on as long as it has and Democrats are not "focusing on it even more."
"I think it is a question of priorities," he said. "They may think it is the right policy because it could deter people from coming to the United States, and it's not true, people being tortured and oppressed are going to take the risk . . . the government is choosing to separate them and then to not bring them back together."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.