The 2022–present Nuevo León political crisis is a period of sustained institutional conflict and political gridlock in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, primarily between the executive branch, led by Governor of Nuevo León Samuel García of the Citizens' Movement (MC), and the Congress of Nuevo León, dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN).
The crisis was triggered by disputes over the appointment of an attorney general, the state budget, and key legislation. García made unprecedented use of his veto power, issuing more than 180 vetoes during his term, and the state entered successive years without a budget approved by Congress, governing instead through budget rollover. In late 2023, the conflict escalated when García requested a leave of absence to pursue the presidency, creating a constitutional crisis over the interim governorship, which paralyzed government functions and briefly left the state with two governors claiming legitimacy.
Background
2021 Nuevo León local elections
Samuel García of Citizens' Movement (MC) was elected governor with 36.71% of the vote, defeating his closest rival, Adrián de la Garza, nominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), by over 10 percentage points. Even though García won the gubernatorial race, it did not translate to the Congress of Nuevo León. MC failed to win a single district seat for the state congress, relying entirely on proportional representation to obtain their 6 seats. Although the National Action Party (PAN) and PRI ran separately in the elections, together they would hold 29 seats, giving them a clear working majority over MC. This left García needing to negotiate with the opposition parties, a situation that resembled that of outgoing independent governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, who also lacked legislative support throughout his term.
Legal frameworks and procedures
Appointment of an attorney general The appointment of the Attorney General of Justice in Nuevo León is regulated by Article 159 of the Constitution of the State of Nuevo León. Under this provision, the Congress of Nuevo León must, within ten calendar days of a vacancy, issue a public call inviting qualified individuals to apply. The call remains open for fifteen days to receive applications and the required documentation. Once the list of eligible candidates is finalized, each legislator votes for four individuals, and the four who obtain the highest number of votes make up the official list sent to the Governor, as outlined in sections I and II of the article.
According to section III of Article 159, the Governor then has five days to select a shortlist of three candidates from the list provided by Congress and return it for consideration. The State Congress must elect the Attorney General from this shortlist with a two-thirds majority vote. If no candidate achieves the necessary majority, a runoff vote is held between the two leading candidates. In the event of a tie for second place, an additional vote is held to determine who advances, and if the tie persists, the matter is resolved by drawing lots. If the Governor fails to submit a shortlist within the five-day period, according to section III, the Congress is authorized to make the appointment directly from the original list of four candidates. Disputes over institutional control (2022–2025)
Dispute over the Attorney General
First dispute (2022–2024) On 5 October 2022, State Attorney General Gustavo Adolfo Guerrero resigned, triggering the process to appoint his successor. Pedro Arce Jardón was appointed as the acting head of the office.
The PRI-PAN bloc advanced the candidacy of Adrián de la Garza, the former Attorney General and former mayor of Monterrey, whom García had defeated in the 2021 gubernatorial election. García opposed this nomination, framing it as a blatant attempt by the "old politics" to install a partisan figure to politically persecute him. García's administration denied de la Garza the required letter of no criminal record, citing judicial suspensions in ongoing lawsuits related to the selection process, which prompted the congress' Anti-Corruption Commission to issue an agreement eliminating this requirement from the process. On 11 November 2022, García vetoed de la Garza from consideration, citing four reasons: the flawed selection process, de la Garza's previous tenure as prosecutor, alleged abuse of authority during the 2021 gubernatorial campaign, and concerns about reinstalling what he deemed "old politics".
García filed a constitutional challenge with the Supreme Court alleging the entire selection process was procedurally flawed. On 14 February 2024, the SCJN sided with García, invalidating both the Anti-Corruption Commission's agreement eliminating the criminal record letter requirement and the candidate list it had approved. The Court ruled that a nine-member committee could not unilaterally change requirements established by the full 42-member legislative plenary, and ordered the process restarted with all original requirements intact. The Congress repeatedly missed the court-mandated deadlines to restart the process, prompting García to file further complaints for contempt. In June 2024, he personally visited the SCJN to press the justices to enforce their ruling.
Second dispute (2024) After nearly two years of deadlock, on 31 July 2024, the PRI-PAN bloc restarted the process to appoint the attorney general. The executive branch again declined to issue letters of no criminal record, arguing that the Anti-Corruption Commission was unlawfully seeking to grant a "second opportunity" to aspirants who had failed to submit the document within the original deadline. The state government maintained that the Supreme Court’s ruling required the process to continue only with candidates who had met the initial eligibility requirements. In response, the Anti-Corruption Commission issued a new agreement removing the criminal record letter as a prerequisite. On 12 August, the Congress sent the list of four finalists to García.
On 19 August, García vetoed the entire list, a decision disregarded by Congress on the grounds that the governor was constitutionally allowed to veto only one candidate. On 26 August, during an extraordinary session attended solely by PRI and PAN legislators, the Congress appointed Pedro Arce Jardón, who was selected through a lottery after two voting rounds failed to produce the required two-thirds majority. García immediately challenged the appointment, and on 28 August 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) unanimously annulled it, ruling that the Congress had again failed to comply with its February order to restart the process under the original terms, specifically by not requiring all candidates to present the criminal record certificate.
Resolution (2025) As part of a broader political deal between the governor and the PRI-PAN opposition, the Congress resumed the selection process on 17 February 2025. The process was expedited, and on the same day, four finalists were unanimously selected. Shortly after receiving the list, García issued a veto, after which the Congress unanimously appointed Javier Flores Saldívar as attorney general in the early hours of 18 February.
Disputes over legislation García came into repeated conflict over legislative publication procedures and his broad use of the veto power, which reached unprecedented levels in the state’s history. By his third year in government, he had issued more than 180 vetoes against decrees and reforms approved by the legislature. For comparison, his predecessor, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón—who also governed with an opposition-controlled Congress—had exercised the veto around 80 times during his six-year term.
UIFE transfer controversy (2022–2024) On 15 June 2022, the Congress of Nuevo León approved Decree 196, which transferred the functions of the State Financial Intelligence Unit (UIFE) to the newly created Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Financial Intelligence within the Attorney General's Office. The reform was prompted by concerns from PRI and PAN legislators that the UIFE, which investigates financial crimes, was being used by the governor to pursue political opponents.
García refused to publish the decree in the "Periódico Oficial del Estado" (), arguing that it violated the separation of powers and infringed upon executive authority. The state legislature subsequently filed a constitutional controversy before the Supreme Court. On 23 November 2023, the Court's First Chamber ruled that the governor’s failure to publish the decree was unconstitutional and ordered its immediate promulgation. After García continued to delay compliance, the Court issued an ultimatum on 15 January 2024, giving him fifteen business days to publish the decree. The ruling warned that continued noncompliance could result in his removal from office and criminal proceedings. García ultimately published the decree on 13 February 2024.
Decrees 340, 341, and 342 (2023–2024) On 22 February 2023, the PRI-PAN bloc approved a package of constitutional reforms—Decrees 340, 341, and 342—with 28 votes in favor. Decree 340 modified more than twenty articles of the state Constitution, removing the governor’s veto power over the appointment of the Attorney General and granting Congress the authority to censure and remove members of the state cabinet. Decree 341 transferred control of the Public Defender’s Office from the Executive to the Judicial branch, while Decree 342 required the governor to obtain congressional authorization to leave the country for more than three consecutive days.
García refused to publish the decrees in the "Periódico Oficial del Estado" (), arguing that they violated the separation of powers and infringed upon executive authority. After the publication deadline passed, the President of the Congress of Nuevo León, Mauro Guerra, announced that the legislature had published them in the "Gaceta Legislativa" () on 8 March 2023, declaring them in force. On 14 March, Judge Faustino Gutiérrez Pérez of the Eighth District Court in Tamaulipas granted García an injunction suspending the entry into force of Decree 340. In protest of the injunction, the Congress suspended all legislative activities from 15 to 21 March.
Separately, García filed constitutional controversy 262/2023 before the Supreme Court in March 2023, challenging the validity of the decrees' publication in the Legislative Gazette. On 22 June 2023, the Court denied García's request for a suspension, ruling that granting it would obstruct the legislative process and undermine a fundamental institution of the Mexican legal order, effectively ordering him to publish the decrees. Despite the Court’s order, García did not immediately comply.
On 23 October 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the publication of the decrees in the Legislative Gazette was unconstitutional, holding that Congress had encroached on the exclusive authority of the Executive to publish laws in the Official State Gazette. The Court declared the 8 March 2023 publication of Decrees 340, 341, and 342 legally invalid and voided all actions taken under them. This decision annulled several appointments made pursuant to the reforms, including those of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, the Electoral Crimes Prosecutor, the State Auditor, and a member of the Judicial Council. The state government warned that individuals continuing to exercise authority under the invalidated decrees could face criminal charges for usurpation of functions.
Budgetary conflicts
2023 budget