The U.S. Senate has confirmed the former the chief deputy for Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach to be assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy.
The Senate voted 52-46 to confirm Dan Burrows to lead the office that oversees the White House’s nominations for vacancies on federal courts, U.S. attorneys’ offices and other roles within the judiciary.
In that role, Burrows could be instrumental in filling three vacancies in the federal courts in Kansas. Among those mentioned for a seat on the federal bench in Kansas is Kobach’s top appellate lawyer, Anthony Powell.
Burrows is replacing Aaron Reitz, who resigned in June to run for attorney general in Texas. Reitz is looking to succeed Ken Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Burrows, a native Kansan who grew up in Belle Plaine, left the Kansas attorney general’s office in late 2024 to take a role in the White House staff secretary’s office.
The staff secretary’s office manages the paper flow to and from the president.
The staff secretary circulates enrolled legislation, proposed executive orders, decision memoranda, speeches and other presidential documents to relevant White House offices for clearance and comment.
Here’s an interview that the Sunflower State Journal did with Burrows in 2023.
Burrows came to Kansas after working as legal director for Advance Colorado, which describes its mission as promoting limited government, free enterprise and low taxes.
Burrows also had been a major in the Army Reserves where he’s worked as an environmental law attorney for the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency and as an assistant command judge advocate for the 209th Regional Support Group.
He also worked as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the economic crimes section in the District of Colorado.
He also was acounsel for the
Also, Burrows clerked for Judge Margaret Ryan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
He also served as the Central and West Plains loordinator for the Colorado Republican Party in 2008.
Burrows received a bachelor’s from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Iowa.
