The State Department rejected TransCanada’s request to pause the review of the Keystone XL pipeline, after the company sought it earlier this week. The proposal from the company was seen as an effort to stall the process until after President Obama’s administration, as he is expected to reject it. 

TransCanada Corp’s request to the State Department for a delay was seen by many as an attempt to postpone the decision until after President Barack Obama left office and a new president more friendly to the plan took over in 2017.

The White House declined to comment on the State Department’s decision.