A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has paused an order requiring President Donald Trump to remove National Guard troops from policing operations in Washington, DC.

In a ruling on Thursday, the court lifted an injunction ordering the troops to leave by Dec. 11.

A Nov. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb found Trump's deployment of the National Guard to be illegal. The appeals court said it would pause the ruling to allow more time to consider the decision. Thursday's order "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits," the court said.

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb's office cited the recent shooting of two National Guard soldiers in DC to argue that Cobb's injunction should not be lifted.

Following last week's shooting, Trump ordered another 500 National Guard troops to be surged to the city.