ST. LOUIS—While U.S. Senate Democrats use the remaining weeks of their control of the chamber and the Biden administration to approve nominees to the federal bench, don’t expect any late push to fill four vacancies in the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.

According to a source familiar with the situation, there isn’t time left as a practical matter for a process that can take months or longer and requires cooperation between the White House and Senators from the state with the vacancies.

The source said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, suggested candidates to the White House but “they just haven’t been reasonable ones,” and that Hawley also rejected candidates floated by the administration.

In an interview with Spectrum News Thursday, Hawley said it was the Biden administration that wouldn’t cooperate.

“They should have done that this last Spring. We begged them to do it, they didn’t do it and there’s simply not enough time now. So that’s their problem, they’ve left Missouri in the lurch but the new administration’s not going to, we are going to get those seats filled and we’re gonna get them filled ASAP,” Hawley said.

A spokesperson for the committee, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, deferred to the White House for comment. A Biden administration spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vacancies constitute a “Judicial Emergency” according to the Judicial Conference of the United States, in a listing updated Thursday. An emergency can be due to either the number of filings per judgeship or the length of time of the vacancies. Of the 23 total emergencies nationally, the four in Missouri’s Eastern District, are the most facing any single district.

The oldest vacancy is that for Judge Rodney Sippel, who entered senior status, meaning he’s supposed to have a reduced caseload, on January 28, 2023. The most recent came on July 31, 2024, when Judge Ronnie White retired from the federal bench.

A similar breakdown between the White House and Hawley is why Sayler Fleming, who became U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District late in the first Trump term, is still in that post today.