"Defendants-appellants respectfully request that the Court hold proceedings in this appeal in abeyance pending further order of the Court," the filing stated.
However, the order was challenged by attorneys general from several US states and a judge James Robart issued a stay on the travel ban. On February 8, the three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the existing stay.
A week later, the defendants filed a supplemental brief explaining that the US government does not seek a review in front of the entire bench of the merits of the ruling. The brief said continuing the litigation was unnecessary because Trump intended to rescind his previous executive order and replace it with a new, substantially revised one.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the new executive order on immigration had been drafted in accordance with the concerns of several US courts and would be implemented flawlessly.
