A Richmond, Virginia federal appeals court decided today to uphold the block against President Donald Trump's second attempt to ban travel from six Muslim-majority countries. Trump and his staffers attempted to narrow down the scope of the ban after an initial appeal failed in a California courtroom in February, but their efforts still resulted in a bill "steeped in animus and directed at a single religious group," the court announced in their decision.

Bloomberg:

Citing comments by Trump and his surrogates on the campaign trial, the appeals court on Thursday said Trump’s order is likely to run afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on religious discrimination. Trump said he would bar Muslims from entering the country if elected president.

"We cannot shut our eyes to such evidence when it stares us in the face," the court said.

In March, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii froze Trump's second attempt at banning Muslims.

The case will likely head to the Supreme Court, the New York Times reports.

Trump has yet to issue a Twitter rant formal response to the news.

UPDATE: United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to take today's decision to the Supreme Court, The Washington Post reports.

"Sessions said the administration 'strongly disagrees' with Thursday’s decision but did not detail its strategy except to say that the government 'will seek review' of the ruling," the Post reports.