WASHINGTON >> The Supreme Court declined Friday to decide for now whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

The decision to defer consideration of a central issue in the case was a major practical victory for Trump, whose lawyers have consistently sought to delay criminal cases against him around the country.

It is unclear what the court’s order will mean for the timing of the trial, which is scheduled to start March 4, although it makes postponement more likely. The case will now move forward in an appeals court, which has put it on a fast track and most likely return to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks or months.

In denying review, the justices gave no reasons, which is typical, and there were no noted dissents.

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Trump, had asked the justices to move with extraordinary speed, bypassing the appeals court.

Any significant delays could plunge the trial into the heart of the 2024 campaign season or push it past the election, when Trump could order the charges be dropped if he wins the presidency. A speedy decision by the justices was of the essence, Smith said in his petition seeking immediate Supreme Court review, because Trump’s appeal of a trial judge’s ruling rejecting his claim of immunity suspended the criminal trial.

Smith wrote that the 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.”

“The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request,” Smith said. “This is an extraordinary case.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has put the case on a brisk schedule, ordering expedited briefing and scheduling arguments for Jan. 9.

The case will be heard by a three-member panel made up of Judge Karen Henderson, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and Judges Florence Pan and J. Michelle Childs, who were both appointed by President Joe Biden.

The panel will probably issue a prompt decision. If Trump loses, he could ask the full appeals court to rehear the case. In the end, the losing side will in all likelihood return to the Supreme Court.

The trial judge, Tanya Chutkan, rejected Trump’s sweeping claims that he had “absolute immunity” from the election interference indictment because it was based on actions he took while in office. She has since suspended proceedings in the case while an appeal moves forward.

Smith urged the justices to move fast: “The public importance of the issues, the imminence of the scheduled trial date and the need for a prompt and final resolution of respondent’s immunity claims counsel in favor of this court’s expedited review at this time.”

Trump’s lawyers took the opposite view, asking the justices to follow the usual procedure by letting the appeals court consider the matter first.