(CNN) — National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said it was keeping the lower-court decision on hold for now to give it time to consider whether to pause the ruling indefinitely.

Implementation of the decision, issued on November 20 by US District Judge Jia Cobb, was already delayed by Cobb for 21 days to allow for appeals. Under the new ruling from the DC Circuit, Cobb’s directive for President Donald Trump and the Defense Department to remove the troops from the District will be on hold “pending further order of this court.”

The appeals court noted in its unsigned order that t

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