Ernestina Godoy, a former Mexico City attorney general and legal advisor to President Claudia Sheinbaum, was sworn in as federal attorney general on Wednesday after the Mexican Senate approved her appointment.
Godoy, who was appointed interim attorney general after Alejandro Gertz Manero resigned last week, was one of three female candidates on a short list submitted to the Senate by Sheinbaum.
El día de hoy, tras comparecer ante el pleno del Senado de la República, como parte de un proceso democrático, rendí protesta como Fiscal General de la República (FGR). Desde que decidí dedicar mi vida al servicio público, siempre he tenido claro que la procuración de justicia es… pic.twitter.com/AP6CeCt8Nq
— Ernestina Godoy Ramos (@ErnestinaGodoy_) December 3, 2025
Senators from the ruling Morena party and its allies were joined by the six Citizens’ Movement party senators as well as three National Action Party (PAN) senators in voting in favor of the appointment of Godoy to a nine-year term as attorney general.
The final vote count was 97 votes in favor and 19 against, with 11 senators casting invalid votes.
Lilly Téllez and Ricardo Anaya, both of whom represent the PAN, were among the senators who invalidated their votes. “No to the mafiocracy,” Téllez wrote on her ballot.
Before the Senate voted to appoint her as Mexico’s second female attorney general, Godoy presented her vision for the role.
She said that a Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) she leads would have “open doors” and wouldn’t “fabricate culprits” or engage in a campaign of “political persecution.”
“But I tell you now,” Godoy added. “There will be no impunity.”
Godoy also pledged that an FGR she leads will coordinate closely with federal and state authorities, as Sheinbaum advocated in remarks last week.
“An Attorney General’s Office that acts alone is destined to fail,” she said.
“Autonomy is strengthened with coordination, intelligence and the vision of the state,” Godoy said, adding that the FGR would not just collaborate with security authorities, such as the Omar García Harfuch-led federal Security Ministry, but also state Attorney General’s Offices, human rights organizations and commissions, and “other institutions.”
The FGR, however, won’t be subordinated by any authority, she stressed.
“Justice is not negotiated,” Godoy said.
Attorney General Gertz resigns after nearly 7 scandal-filled years on the job
She also said that “the conduct” of the FGR “must be humanist” and based on “love for the homeland, honesty, a vocation of service, respect for human rights, professionalism and efficacy.”
The “true challenge,” she said, is to “reestablish citizens’ confidence” in the FGR and the delivery of justice.
“And that’s achieved with transparency, with accountability, with decisions based on evidence, with respect for human rights, with verifiable results,” Godoy said.
She also said that in order to combat organized crime — a huge challenge for the federal government — the country needs an FGR that doesn’t just investigate people, but also “the money trail.”
Among the high-profile unresolved cases Godoy inherits as attorney general are those involving the disappearance of 43 teacher’s college students in Guerrero in 2014 and corruption allegations against former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya, who has been awaiting trial for years.
Opposition questions Godoy’s closeness to Sheinbaum and Morena
Opposition senators asserted that the process to select a new attorney general from the three candidates put forward by Sheinbaum was a “simulation” to install a fiscal carnala, or government-friendly attorney general.
Godoy served as Mexico City attorney general during Sheinbaum’s 2018-23 mayorship in the capital, and more recently served as the president’s top legal advisor. The 71-year-old attorney general and the 63-year-old president have had a close working relationship for years and helped former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) create the Morena party, which has now been in power at the federal level for seven years.
Opposition senators questioned Godoy’s affiliation with Morena, a party she represented in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. She hugged and kissed Morena senators during her appearance in the Senate on Wednesday.
Téllez, the PAN senator, asked Godoy whether she would “give impunity” to Morena’s Senate leader Adán Augusto López Hernández, who opposition parties allege engaged in criminal conduct when he was governor of Tabasco.
She also asked the new attorney general whether she would “bury investigative files” related to Andy López Beltrán, a son of AMLO who the PAN has accused of committing a range of crimes including fuel smuggling.
Godoy emphasized her commitment to holding anyone who has committed a crime to account, and protecting and defending victims.
López Hernández, whose security minister during his governorship in Tabasco is now imprisoned and accused of heading up a criminal organization, was one of the senators who approached Godoy and gave her a hug after she was sworn in as attorney general, the El Universal newspaper reported.
The Reforma newspaper ran a headline that claimed that Godoy is “totalmente Palacio Nacional” (totally National Palace), a play on the “totalmente palacio” marketing slogan of the Palacio de Hierro department store chain.
The implication was that Godoy is too close to Sheinbaum, whose office and residence is at the National Palace in the historic center of Mexico City.
Sheinbaum: Godoy’s appointment will be ‘very good for the country’
At her Thursday morning press conference, Sheinbaum expressed her satisfaction with the appointment of Godoy as attorney general.
“Ernestina is an honest woman, a great professional,” she said before noting Godoy’s experience as attorney general in Mexico City.
Sheinbaum went on to say that she believes that the approval of Godoy as attorney general will be “very good for the country.”
“… There will be a lot more coordination now between the Security Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Guard, and we also hope that she is a leader that strengthens the relationship with the state Attorney General’s Offices,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that the fact that the FGR is autonomous doesn’t mean there can’t be coordination with other authorities.
“Autonomy means that the [federal] executive doesn’t influence the decisions of the Federal Attorney General’s Office,” she said.
“But we want coordination to guarantee peace and security in the country … and reduce impunity,” Sheinbaum said.
With reports from Milenio, Reforma, La Jornada and El Universal
