Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1334_8m58.pdf
Page Number: 7.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

the  United  States.”  For  that  reason,  the  Appointments 
Clause does not dictate how the Board’s members must be 
selected. 

I 
A 
In  2006,  tax  advantages  that  had  previously  led  major
businesses  to  invest  in  Puerto  Rico  expired.  See  Small 
Business Job Protection Act of 1996, §1601, 110 Stat. 1827.
Many industries left the island.  Emigration increased.  And 
the public debt of Puerto Rico’s government and its instru-
mentalities soared, rising from $39.2 billion in 2005 to $71
billion in 2016.  See Dept. of Treasury, Puerto Rico’s Eco-
nomic  and  Fiscal  Crisis  1,  3,  https://www.treasury.gov/
connect/blog/Documents/Puerto_Ricos_fiscal_challenges.pdf; 
GAO, U. S. Territories: Public Debt Outlook 12 (GAO–18–
160, 2017).

Puerto Rico found that it could not service that debt.  Yet 
Puerto  Rico  could  not  easily  restructure  it.    The  Federal 
Bankruptcy Code’s municipality-related Chapter 9 did not
apply to Puerto Rico (or to the District of Columbia).  See 
11 U. S. C. §§109(c), 101(52).  But at the same time, federal 
bankruptcy law invalidated Puerto Rico’s own local “debt-
restructuring” statutes.  Puerto Rico v. Franklin Cal. Tax-
Free  Trust,  579  U. S.  ___  (2016).    In  2016,  in  response  to 
Puerto  Rico’s  fiscal  crisis,  Congress  enacted  PROMESA.
130 Stat. 549, 48 U. S. C. §2101 et seq.

PROMESA allows Puerto Rico and its entities to file for 
federal  bankruptcy  protection.    See  §§301,  302,  130  Stat. 
577, 579; cf. 11 U. S. C. §901 (related to bankruptcies of lo-
cal  governments).  The  filing  and  subsequent  proceedings
are to take place in the United States District Court for the 
District  of  Puerto  Rico,  before  a  federal  judge  selected  by 
the Chief Justice of the United States.  PROMESA §§307–
308, 130 Stat. 582.  PROMESA also created the Financial 
Oversight  and  Management  Board—with  seven  members