A federal court has blocked the Biden administration’s pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits. 

Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee in Louisiana, The Hill reports, lifted the pause while a lawsuit by 16 states against the rule is considered. 

Cain stated in his ruling, per The Hill, that the plaintiffs’ case is likely to succeed and will suffer irreparable harm if the pause stays in place while the courts consider the states’ lawsuit. 

The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration’s policy is illegal and causes serious harm to the plaintiff states, local communities and the energy sector of the United States.