The Biden administration succeeded in blocking a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after a federal court issued an administrative stay of a hearing set for Friday. The alleged 9/11 mastermind was expected to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement worked out by military prosecutors that would have removed the death penalty as a possibility in his case.

The Biden administration has doubled down on its unusual court battle to derail a plea deal that the government itself had reached with accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The Biden administration succeeded Thursday in temporarily blocking accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from entering a guilty plea in a deal that would spare<a class="excerpt-read-more" hr

The move comes after years of legal battles over the case, which remains in pretrial hearings 17 years after charges were first filed.

Lawyers for the accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are urging a federal appeals panel to let his scheduled guilty plea in the attacks go forward

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Biden administration are attempting to block the deal to pursue capital punishment.

The appeal comes after the military judge at Guantanamo Bay and a military appeals panel rejects US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's effort to throw out the plea deal