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FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BD. FOR 
PUERTO RICO v. AURELIUS INVESTMENT, LLC 
Opinion of the Court 

of  local  government,  staffed  by  local  officials,  who  them-
selves have made and enforced local law.  Compare, e.g., Act 
of Mar. 2, 1962, §401, 76 Stat. 17 (changing D. C. liquor tax 
from $1.25 per gallon to $1.50 per gallon), with District of
Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganiza-
tion  Act,  87  Stat.  774  (giving  local  D. C.  government  pri-
mary legislative control over local matters).  This structure 
suggests  that  when  Congress  creates  local  offices  using 
these two unique powers, the officers exercise power of the 
local government, not the Federal Government.  Cf. Ameri-
can Ins. Co. v. 356 Bales of Cotton, 1 Pet. 511, 546 (1828)
(Marshall, C. J.) (territorial courts may exercise the judicial
power of the Territories without the life tenure and salary 
protections mandated by Article III for federal judges); Cin-
cinnati Soap Co. v. United States, 301 U. S. 308, 323 (1937) 
(territorial legislators may exercise the legislative power of 
the  Territories  without  violating  the  nondelegation  doc-
trine).

History confirms what the Constitution’s text and struc-
ture  suggest.  See  NLRB  v.  Noel  Canning,  573  U. S.  513, 
524 (2014) (relying on history and structure in interpreting 
the  Recess  Appointments  Clause).  See  also McCulloch  v. 
Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 401 (1819) (emphasizing the util-
ity of historical practice in interpreting constitutional pro-
visions).  Longstanding  practice  indicates  that  a  federal 
law’s creation of an office in this context does not automat-
ically make its holder an “Officer of the United States.”  Ra-
ther, Congress has often used these two provisions to create
local offices filled in ways other than those specified in the 
Appointments Clause.  When the First Congress legislated 
for  the  Northwest  Territories,  for  example,  it  created  a
House  of  Representatives  for  the  Territory  with  members 
selected by election.  It also created an upper house of the
territorial  legislature,  whose  members  were  appointed  by
the President (without Senate confirmation) from lists pro-