President Trump has lost nearly every round of the court cases challenging his ban on U.S. entry from selected nations with overwhelmingly Muslim populations. But on Monday he may have won the battle, or taken a big step toward winning it, by running out the clock.

A day after Trump issued a new order indefinitely restricting travel from eight countries — replacing the six-nation, 90-day ban that expired Sunday — the Supreme Court canceled its Oct. 10 hearing on the legality of the last order and asked for brief written arguments by Oct. 5 on whether the case is now moot.

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The administration’s “more detailed record of the justifications” makes it more likely that the court will find a distinction between the new order and its predecessors, said Michael McConnell, a Stanford law professor and former federal appeals court judge.