The White House is preparing to ask the Senate to confirm the current members of Puerto Rico’s oversight board, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that would disappoint critics of the U.S. territory’s financial supervisors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Trump administration has begun the process of putting the board’s seven voting members up for a Senate vote, though the nominations aren’t finalized or guaranteed to occur. The move comes in response to a federal appeals court ruling on the board members, who were installed as part of a federal rescue package in 2016 to oversee Puerto Rico’s public finances and renegotiate its debts. The Feb. 15 ruling required Senate confirmation of those serving on the board, throwing its authority into doubt while thrusting the island’s fiscal problems back into Washington’s lap. President Trump and the Senate were given a 90-day deadline by the appeals court to appoint and confirm the current board members or new nominees. The board has spent years at odds with unhappy creditors in the mainland U.S. and elected officials on the island. Some creditors and officials have lobbied since the ruling to fill at least some of the seven slots with new candidates. Bondholders include Aurelius Capital Management LP, a hedge-fund manager that bet big on Puerto Rico and sued the board to argue that its members improperly bypassed the U.S. Constitution’s rules for federal officer appointments. An appeals court in Boston agreed last month, saying that the members must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
