The ruling renders moot Pierluisi’s oath of office, paving the way for Wanda Vázquez, the secretary of justice, to be sworn in as Puerto Rico’s third governor in five days. Vázquez has said that she does not want the job but would fulfill her duties as next in the line of succession.
The ruling will take effect at 5 p.m., “to guarantee an orderly succession.”
The court’s nine justices ruled unanimously in favor of the Puerto Rico Senate, which sued late Sunday asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction against Pierluisi taking over the office of chief executive. He became governor Friday, even though he had not been confirmed as secretary of state by both chambers of the Legislative Assembly. Only the House of Representatives approved his recess appointment.
To justify Pierluisi’s ascent to the governor’s seat, Pierluisi and his predecessor, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, cited a 2005 statute that said the secretary of state did not require legislative confirmation to step in as governor. On Wednesday, the court declared that law unconstitutional.
“The constitution requires the advice and consent of both chambers,” said Yanira Reyes Gil, a constitutional scholar and associate law professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. “It is a basic principle of constitutional law that the constitution takes precedence.”
Pierluisi’s lawyers had argued that the Senate could have voted on his nomination, as the House did, but chose not to do so before Rosselló’s resignation became effective Friday. The former governor was forced out of office by massive public protests prompted by the leak of hundreds of pages of private messages that showed Rosselló and his aides insulting politicians and everyday Puerto Ricans.
In a news conference Tuesday, Pierluisi, 60, told reporters that he would resign if the court ruled against him.
“The Supreme Court will decide,” he said. “I trust them, and they’ll do the right thing for Puerto Rico.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.