San Francisco ? Rebuffing the Bush administration, a federal appeals court Friday refused to reconsider its ruling that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words “under God.”

The case could go next to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft condemned the decision and said the Justice Department would “spare no effort to preserve the rights of all our citizens to pledge allegiance to the American flag.” But he stopped short of saying the administration will appeal to the high court.

In June, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the words “under God” amount to a government endorsement of religion and violate the separation of church and state. The ruling was attacked by President Bush, Congress and many others, and the Bush administration asked the full 9th Circuit to reconsider.

Only nine of the 24 active judges on the 9th Circuit backed that move.

The June ruling, which applies to the nine Western states the court covers, had been put on hold until the full court reviewed it.

It was not immediately clear when the ban might take effect for the millions of public school students in those states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Appellate rulings take several weeks to take effect, to give each side an opportunity to appeal.

The challenge was brought by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who objected to his 8-year-old daughter’s listening to the words “under God” in school. The words were added by Congress in 1954 during the Cold War to distinguish democracy from “godless Communism.”

Reached in Houston, Newdow praised the court for “upholding the Constitution. That’s what they are supposed to do.

“This makes our country stronger when everyone’s views are given equality, especially when it comes to religion,” said Newdow, who received death threats last summer when the court ruled.