The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday deferred a decision on whether former president Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on election-interference charges, leaving it to a federal appeals court to decide the matter for now.

In a win for Trump, who has sought to delay his various ongoing legal battles, the Court denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request to bypass the normal appeals court process by swiftly deciding the question.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” Smith wrote in a filing to the Court.

Now that the Supreme Court has refused to intervene, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments on the issue on January 9.