Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1334_8m58.pdf
Page Number: 17

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

13 

Opinion of the Court 

the  Jones  Act  that  Public  Law  600  retained  were  several 
related to Puerto Rico’s public debt.  Congress retained, for
example,  the  triple-tax-exempt  nature  of  Puerto  Rican 
bonds.  Jones Act, §3, 39 Stat. 953.  It also retained a (later 
repealed) cap on the amount of public debt Puerto Rico or
its subdivisions could accumulate.  Ibid.  In a public refer-
endum,  the  citizens  of  Puerto  Rico  approved  Public  Law
600—including the limits on debt in §3 of the Federal Rela-
tions  Act—and  then  began  the  constitution-making  pro-
cess.  Pub.  L.  600,  §§2,  3,  64  Stat.  319;  see  Act  of  July  3, 
1952, 66 Stat. 327; A. Fernós-Isern, Original Intent in the 
Constitution of Puerto Rico 13 (2d ed. 2002).

Puerto Rico’s popularly ratified Constitution, which Con-
gress accepted with a few fairly minor changes, does not in-
volve the President or the Senate in the appointment pro-
cess for local officials.  That Constitution provides for the
election of Puerto Rico’s Governor and legislators.  Art. III, 
§1; Art. IV, §1.  And it provides for gubernatorial appoint-
ment (and Puerto Rican Senate confirmation) of cabinet of-
ficers.  Art. IV, §5. 

The  upshot  is  that  Puerto  Rico’s  history  reflects  long-
standing use of various methods for selecting officials with
primarily local responsibilities.  This history is consistent
with the history of other entities that fall within the scope
of Article IV and with the history of the District of Colum-
bia.  See supra, at 10–11.  And it comports with our prece-
dents,  which  have  long  acknowledged  that  Congress  may 
structure local governments under Article IV and Article I 
in ways that do not precisely mirror the constitutional blue-
print for the National Government.  See, e.g., Benner v. Por-
ter, 9 How. 235, 242 (1850).  Cf. Glidden Co. v. Zdanok, 370 
U. S.  530,  546  (1962)  (plurality  opinion)  (recognizing  that
local governments created by Congress could, like govern-
ments of the States, “dispense with protections deemed in-
herent  in  a  separation  of  governmental  powers”).    Some-
times Congress has specified the use of methods that would