President Donald Trump approached the process of selecting a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy with the idea he will likely have the chance to nominate up to five jurists for the nation's high court, according to Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz.
"I think the president is looking at the big picture," Dershowitz told CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 on Monday just ahead of Trump's announcement he had selected Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the position.
"This is only one of several nominations he expects to make, and I think what he's thinking about tonight or what he thought about today was who should be the first of my picks?" Dershowitz continued.
"He's anticipating making two, three, four, maybe five picks over the years. And so he's kind of setting out a program for who he would like to pick over the years."
Dershowitz reiterated the point in remarks to Bloomberg News earlier Monday.
"There is a concern he could fill quite a number of places . . . down the line," Dershowitz said.