For nearly two years, Mexico has been at the center of a political experiment that’s drawn both admiration and alarm from inside and outside its borders. With the inauguration of a newly elected Supreme Court and the swearing-in of 881 federal judges on September 1, 2025, the country has become the only nation in the world to fill every judicial seat through popular vote. The sweeping reform, championed by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his Morena party, has upended a centuries-old system of judicial appointments and set off a fierce debate over the future of Mexican democracy.
On the evening of September 1, President Claudia Sheinbaum—Mexico’s first female leader and a close ally of López Obrador—entered the Supreme Court chamber for a ceremony rich with symbolism and political weight. The main doors, closed since the Covid pandemic began in 2020, swung open to admit Sheinbaum and a host of Morena loyalists, legislators, and government officials. A floral arrangement at the entrance declared, “Towards a reconciliation of justice with the people,” encapsulating the reform’s populist message.
Sheinbaum’s presence at the inauguration marked a dramatic shift in executive-judicial relations. According to El País, the last time Mexico’s judiciary underwent such a transformation, then-president Ernesto Zedillo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) deliberately stayed away from the installation of the new bench to underscore the separation of powers. This time, the ruling party’s leadership—Sheinbaum, Chamber of Deputies president Sergio Gutiérrez, and Senate president Laura Itzel Castillo—sat side by side with Hugo Aguilar, the new Supreme Court president, in what Aguilar described as a “republican ceremony.” Yet all were deeply tied to Morena, fueling criticisms of political entanglement.
The reform’s central pillar is the direct election of judges by Mexico’s citizens, a constitutional amendment rushed through Congress after Morena’s landslide victory in 2024. Thousands of lawyers campaigned for judicial posts, with nine coveted Supreme Court seats ultimately filled by jurists backed by Morena. The party’s influence was palpable: voting guides distributed during the election prominently featured the names of its preferred candidates, and the screening committees that evaluated nominees were controlled by the ruling party.
As AP reported, Sheinbaum has described the new court as a “profoundly democratic event,” touting it as the dawn of a new era. “The era of nepotism, corruption and privilege is over, and a new era of legality and justice for all is beginning,” she declared. The Supreme Court’s new president, Hugo Aguilar—a lawyer renowned for defending Indigenous rights—pledged during the inauguration ceremony, “to give justice to those who have been excluded from the judicial apparatus.”
The symbolism didn’t stop at words. The justices participated in an Indigenous purification ritual and a ceremonial transfer of the baton of command in Mexico City’s Zócalo, a public square steeped in political history. Aguilar, the first Indigenous president of the Supreme Court, has promised to hold “itinerant” sessions outside the capital, further emphasizing the reform’s populist ethos.
Yet the reform has not been without controversy. Critics, including academics and opposition figures, warn that by making judges directly accountable to voters—and, by extension, to the political machinery that mobilizes those voters—the independence of the judiciary is at risk. As El País highlighted, the requirements to become a judge were notably lax, and dozens of inexperienced lawyers are now poised to take the bench. The rushed election process left electoral institutions scrambling, and legal errors in the framework underpinning the vote have not gone unnoticed.
Concerns over the separation of powers are not merely theoretical. During López Obrador’s presidency, relations between the executive and judiciary broke down entirely, with the former president accusing judges of stalling his legislative agenda and acting as a bastion for conservative interests. Sheinbaum’s attendance at the Supreme Court inauguration was meant, at least in part, to signal a reestablishment of dialogue between the branches of government. But for many, it raised red flags about the extent of Morena’s influence over the judiciary.
Despite these concerns, Sheinbaum remains a popular figure. In her first State of the Nation address, delivered just hours before the new judges took office, she celebrated her administration’s achievements and promised even greater progress. “Things are going well, and they’re only going to get better,” she assured the nation, according to AP. Her approval ratings, which hover between 70% and 80%, reflect widespread support for her progressive agenda.
Sheinbaum’s government has made major strides in social policy, lifting more than 8.3 million people out of poverty between 2022 and 2024—thanks in large part to expanded social programs and a higher minimum wage. Direct cash transfers now reach around 32 million families, roughly a quarter of Mexico’s population, making it “the most ambitious social plan in Mexico’s history,” as Sheinbaum put it. The economy, too, has shown resilience, with strong investment and a robust peso despite global uncertainty.
On the international stage, Sheinbaum has had to navigate the often turbulent relationship with the United States. Her administration has taken aggressive action against Mexican cartels and fentanyl production, delivering dozens of cartel figures wanted by U.S. authorities to the Trump administration. Yet she has drawn a firm line on sovereignty, rejecting any suggestion of foreign military intervention. “Under no circumstance will we accept interventions, interference, or any other act from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of the country,” she stated firmly.
Still, not all is rosy. The president’s address largely sidestepped ongoing cartel violence—a scourge that continues to claim lives daily and has left nearly 130,000 Mexicans missing. Nor did she dwell on the deeper democratic concerns raised by the judicial reform. Critics warn that the popular election of judges could weaken the checks and balances essential to a healthy democracy by making it easier for the ruling party to install loyalists on the nation’s highest courts.
As Mexico embarks on this unprecedented experiment, the world is watching closely. Sheinbaum, inheriting a system with no global precedent and little in the way of a roadmap, faces the daunting task of ensuring that the judiciary truly serves the people—without becoming a tool of those in power. Whether the reform will lead to a more just and democratic Mexico, or undermine the very institutions it seeks to revitalize, remains to be seen. For now, the doors of the Supreme Court are open once again, and a new chapter in Mexican history has begun.