A U.S. federal appeals court decided Monday not to rehear a case challenging the Barack Obama administration’s net neutrality rules that require internet service providers to provide equal access to all data on the web.

The decision, decided by the Washington, D.C. court, was handed down in part due to Federal Communication Commission chairman Ajit Pai’s recent proposal to undo the 2015 Open Internet Order that classified ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act.

Read: Is Net Neutrality Dead? What The Internet Will Look Like Without Open Internet Rules, Title II

In a written opinion on the decision, Judge Sri Srinivasan said reviewing the decision "would be particularly unwarranted at this point in light of the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the FCC’s order” and questioned why the court should review the validity of a rule “that the agency had already slated for replacement."

The original case, effectively upheld by the D.C. appeals court Monday, upheld the FCC’s decision to reclassify the internet as a public utility as a means of enforcing net neutrality principles, which forbids ISPs from blocking content, throttling or slowing data speeds and offering paid prioritization for certain services.

Two judges offered dissent on the decision not to rehear the case, premised on the belief that the original 2015 order issued by the FCC was unlawful because Congress didn’t grant the authority to reclassify internet providers as common carriers.

"The government must keep its hands off the editorial decisions of Internet service providers," Judge Brett Kavanagh wrote, arguing that the order violates the First Amendment rights of ISPs. Kavanagh said the order would be akin to if the government mandated a bookstore or Amazon "to feature and promote all books in the same manner."

Judge Janice Rogers Brown said the order "shows signs of a government having grown beyond the consent of the governed."

Read: What Is Net Neutrality? How FCC's Title II and Open Internet Rules Came To Be

FCC chairman Ajit Pai acknowledged the decision Monday, saying “it is not surprising” the court did not decide to rehear the case while also calling the decision important as it “makes clear that the FCC has the authority to classify broadband Internet access service as an information service.”

Mike O’Rielly, Pai’s fellow Republican commissioner on the FCC, echoed these sentiments in a statement. “Rehashing old history here makes little sense, except to highlight the questionable degree of deference the court afforded the Commission,” he said.

Interestingly, activist groups who oppose the FCC’s proposal to reverse net neutrality protections also praised the court’s decision not to rehear the challenge.

"Today's decision is a win for consumers,” Lisa Hayes general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, said. “The court agreed that Title II classification is sound, and that the FCC has authority to regulate the marketplace. Net neutrality is essential to a vibrant internet ecosystem, and CDT will continue to defend the open internet in the days and years to come."

The FCC will hold an initial vote on chairman Pai’s plan to reclassify the internet as an information service on May 18.

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