A federal appeals court on Wednesday denied a request from President Donald Trump's administration to lift a lower court’s order that blocked the president’s efforts to allegedly dismantle the Department of Education.

A three-judge panel on the First Circuit Court of Appeals found “no basis on which to conclude” a federal judge erred when he issued a preliminary injunction last month blocking the effort to lay off half of the Department of Education’s employees.

“What is at stake in this case, the District Court found, was whether a nearly half-century-old cabinet department would be permitted to carry out its statutorily assigned functions or prevented from doing so by a mass termination of employees aimed at implementing the effective closure of that department,” the judges wrote in the order.

The court said there is “no force” to the Trump administration’s contention that the lower court’s order would cause them any irreparable injury by "undermining implementation of an important presidential policy."

Next stop, the United States Supreme Court.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous

President Donald Trump has ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether former President Joe Biden's administration sought to conspire to cover up his mental state while in office.

This represents a significant escalation from the White House as it is a directive to the Justice Department to formally investigate. It goes beyond the review into Biden's last-minute pardons before leaving office

The president is directing the attorney general, in coordination with his White House counsel, to investigate "the circumstances surrounding Biden's supposed execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in office."

Former President Joe Biden responded to Trump's memo in a statement sent to ABC News.

"Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency," Biden's statement said. "I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false."

The statement went on to say: "This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations."

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Brittany Shepherd

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning travel from 12 countries, citing national security concerns.

The administration is imposing full restrictions on entry into the United States from nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Additionally, Trump is imposing partial restrictions on entry from nationals of seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

"As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people. I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks," Trump wrote.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are “unlawful and unjustified,” in comments to the Canadian House of Commons Wednesday.

Carney said this is why Canada has “implemented retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion worth of US goods.”

“The newly imposed American tariffs on steel and aluminum are both unlawful and unjustified. That’s why we’ve implemented retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion worth of U.S. goods. We are engaged in intensive negotiations with the U.S., while also preparing additional reprisals should those talks fail,” Carney added.

-ABC News' Aleem Agha and Ellie Kaufman