The Puerto Rico Fiscal Oversight Board, tasked by the federal government with handling the U.S. territory’s crippling $70-billion debt, came into scrutiny Tuesday morning during a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, in which most of the discussion centered on whether the board’s responsibilities fell under local or federal jurisdiction.

The question underlying the 80-minute session, in which all nine Supreme Court Justices participated, had to do with whether the members of the fiscal board were appointed in a constitutionally valid way, after the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled such actions as unconstitutional eight months ago because the members were not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Throughout the hearing, eight of the nine judges —except Associate Justice Clarence Thomas— debated with the plaintiffs who placed the constitutional challenge on the fiscal board, among them investment firm Aurelius/Assured Guaranty, and a labor union representing employees of the island’s electric utility, who argued that the fiscal board’s members were federal officials with ample powers to restructure the island’s debt in a manner that would affect citizens in Puerto Rico and stateside.

The following is a transcript of the historic hearing: