Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1334_8m58.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

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

5 

Opinion of the Court 

the ground that the Board members’ selection violated the 
Appointments Clause.  The court denied the motions.  See 
In re  Financial  Oversight  and  Management  Bd.  of  Puerto 
Rico, 318 F. Supp. 3d 537, 556–557 (PR 2018).  The credi-
tors appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 
First Circuit.  That court reversed.  It held that the selec-
tion  of  the  Board’s  members  violated  the  Appointments 
Clause.  915 F. 3d 838, 861 (2019).  But it concluded that 
those  Board  actions  taken  prior  to  its  decision  remained
valid under the “de facto officer” doctrine.  Id., at 862–863; 
see,  e.g.,  McDowell  v.  United  States,  159  U. S.  596,  601 
(1895)  (judicial  decisions  could  not  later  be  attacked  on 
ground that an unlawfully sitting judge presided); Ball v. 
United States, 140 U. S. 118, 128–129 (1891) (same). 

The Board, the United States, and various creditors then 
filed petitions for certiorari in this Court, some arguing that 
the  appointments  were  constitutionally  valid,  others  that
the de facto officer doctrine did not apply.  Compare Pets.
for Cert. in Nos. 18–1334, 18–1496, 18–1514 with Pets. for 
Cert. in Nos. 18–1475, 18–1521.  In light of the importance
of the questions, we granted certiorari in all the petitions 
and consolidated them for argument.  588 U. S. ___ (2019). 

II 
Congress created the Board pursuant to its power under 
Article  IV  of  the  Constitution  to  “make  all  needful  Rules 
and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  . . .  belonging  to
the United States.”  §3, cl. 2; see PROMESA §101(b)(2), 130 
Stat.  553.  Some  have  argued  in  these  cases that  the  Ap-
pointments Clause simply does not apply in the context of 
Puerto Rico.  But, like the Court of Appeals, we believe the
Appointments Clause restricts the appointment of all offic-
ers of the United States, including those who carry out their
powers and duties in or in relation to Puerto Rico. 

The Constitution’s structure provides strong reason to be-
lieve that is so.  The Constitution separates the three basic