Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🗳️ Plan B electoral reform proposal heads to Congress Tuesday: Sheinbaum will submit her scaled-back proposal — focused on cutting budgets for state legislatures, the Senate and some municipal governments — on Tuesday, with allied PT and PVEM parties now on board after voting down her original constitutional reform.
- 💸 Fighting political privileges: The president highlighted stark budget inequalities between state legislatures — some receive more than 30 million pesos per deputy vs. 5 million in others — and said savings from the reform would fund infrastructure and public needs rather than politician salaries of up to 500,000 pesos a month.
- 🇲🇽🇺🇸 Sheinbaum strikes a diplomatic tone on U.S. relations: Despite Trump sharing a post on Truth Social accusing her administration of being a “narco-government,” Sheinbaum said Mexico always seeks a good relationship with the US — and expressed optimism as formal USMCA review talks kicked off Monday.
Why today’s mañanera matters
It’s another big week for the Mexican government as formal USMCA talks with the Trump administration commence Monday and President Claudia Sheinbaum’s “plan B” electoral reform proposal will be submitted to Congress on Tuesday.
At her Monday morning press conference, Sheinbaum spoke about her backup electoral initiative five days after her original reform was rejected by Mexico’s lower house of Congress.
She also acknowledged that her government and the Trump administration have their differences, especially when it comes to their preferred approaches to combating cartels on Mexican soil. (Trump would like to send U.S. troops into Mexico, but Sheinbaum is adamant that Mexican forces must combat Mexican cartels.)
Sheinbaum’s Monday mañanera was important as the president effectively set the scene for what is to come this week on two very important issues for her government.
Sheinbaum to send Plan B electoral reform to Congress on Tuesday
Sheinbaum told reporters that she will submit her “plan B” electoral reform proposal to Congress on Tuesday, one day later than originally planned.
She acknowledged that the ruling Morena party’s allies, the Labor Party (PT) and the Green Party (PVEM), have agreed to back the plan.
Most PT and PVEM deputies voted against Sheinbaum’s original electoral reform proposal, which failed to pass the lower house of Congress as it didn’t meet the supermajority (2/3 support) threshold required for the approval of bills that seek to amend Mexico’s Constitution.
The president noted that her “plan B” proposal — which seeks to modify secondary laws — is largely focused on reducing the resources allocated to state legislatures and the federal Senate, and reducing the number of councilors in some municipal governments.
She reiterated that the savings generated from those initiatives would be used to fund infrastructure projects.
📊 La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum explicó que el Plan B de la reforma electoral busca reorientar recursos de congresos locales, el Senado y regidores hacia municipios y estados para fortalecer la obra pública. pic.twitter.com/UTLrT84o10
— Diario de Morelos (@DiariodeMorelos) March 16, 2026
Sheinbaum said last week that her “plan B” proposal would seek to establish a “maximum limit” on resources that can be allocated to state legislatures and that savings will be allocated to “the needs of the people.”
She railed against excessive benefits for politicians, asserting that they allowed some elected officials to earn as much as 500,000 pesos (US $28,000) per month.
On Monday morning, Sheinbaum asserted that her government is continuing to “fight against privileges.”
“It cannot be that the Congress of one state … has [a budget of] 39 million pesos per deputy and another state has 5 million pesos [per deputy],” she said.
Sheinbaum: ‘We always seek a good relationship with the US government’
Asked when it would be “feasible” for her to have an in-person meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Sheinbaum said that her government would seek “the best time” for such an engagement to take place.
The question came after Trump on Friday shared on his Truth Social account video footage of Sheinbaum highlighting that her government has rejected the Trump administration’s offer to send the U.S. Army to Mexico to combat cartels.
Trump also shared on Truth Social a post by an X (formerly Twitter) user who effectively accused the Sheinbaum administration of being a “narco-government” considering it rejected Trump’s offer of U.S. military assistance. The White House itself asserted last year that “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico,” while Trump has accused Sheinbaum of being “afraid” of cartels.
On Monday morning, Sheinbaum acknowledged that her government, at times, has disagreements with the Trump administration, especially on issues where Mexico’s sovereignty is at stake.
“But we always seek a good relationship with the United States government, and we have one on security and we have one on trade, ” she said, even though Trump has imposed tariffs on a range of Mexican goods.
Sheinbaum noted that Mexico’s formal USMCA talks with the United States are commencing this Monday ahead of the review of the six-year-old North American free trade pact.
“We hope to reach a very good outcome,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
