President-elect Donald Trump will get at least two more appointments to the federal bench in Kansas after U.S. District Judge Dan Crabtree revealed he would move to senior status next year.
Trump approved three of the state’s six federal judges – Holly Teeter, Toby Crouse and John Broomes – during his first term as president.
He may end up with all six appointments if Chief Judge Eric Melgren moves to senior status as well – a distinct possibility.
Crabtree, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, sent a letter to the White House, notifying officials of his intention to move to senior status in 2025.
Crabtree called his work an “honor of a lifetime” and said he would continue to serve as a senior judge in Kansas.
Crabtree is a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas. He graduated from Ottawa University in 1978 and the University of Kansas Law School in 1981.
He spent his entire career as a practicing lawyer with the same firm, Stinson Leonard Street, and its predecessor firm, Stinson Morrison Hecker, where he practiced for 32 years.
While in private practice, Crabtree represented businesses and business owners in commercial and antitrust cases.
He also served as general counsel for the Kansas City Royals.
Obama nominated Crabtree for the position previously held by Judge John W. Lungstrum.
Crabtree’s decision to move to senior status will give Trump at least two more judicial appointments in Kansas.
Trump may get a third appointment in Kansas depending on Melgren’s future.
Former President George W. Bush nominateed Melgren as a judge after he served as the top federal prosecutor in Kansas.
Raised on a cattle and wheat farm in southwest Kansas, Melgren was in the first generation of his family to attend college.
He earned an undergraduate degree from Wichita State University, where he served as student body president.
After college, he worked for a few years in business management before attending law school at Washburn University, where he was a member of the Law Review.
For 15 years, Melgren worked for the Wichita firm of Foulston & Siefkin where his practice focused on tax and business matters.
If Melgren moves to senior status, Trump would get to appoint all six Kansas judges in his upcoming term.
As Trump heads into his second term, there are currently 45 judicial vacancies with 17 nominees pending confirmation. There are 890 authorized judgeships nationally.
President Joe Biden fumbled away a chance to appoint a judge in Kansas when U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson took senior status in January 2022.
Last year, Biden nominated federal prosecutor Jabari Wamble, the son-in-law of Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, to fill Robinson’s seat.
Wamble later withdrew, and the Biden administration never moved forward with another nomination to fill Robinson’s seat.
The Biden administration initially appointed Wamble to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but he ultimately didn’t make the cut after he was not rated by the American Bar Association.
The ABA didn’t explain why he wasn’t rated, and the White House never commented.
