Minor reshuffle for the Merz government: turmoil over the Transport Minister, Economy Minister’s position in the balance
Following the Spahn affair – in which the CDU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag resigned after using surrogacy in the US – the Chancellor has appointed the current Health Minister, Warken, as Head of the Chancellery and has announced that further changes may take place in the near future. With the replacement of the Transport Minister called off at the last minute, rumours are rife that the Economy Minister, Reiche, may also be stepping down.
Key points
A minor and confusing reshuffle today, which could herald a more significant shake-up in the near future. Perhaps, but for the moment it is merely speculation, following the departure from the government of the Minister for the Economy, Katherina Reiche. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sought to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the resignation of Jens Spahn, the leader of the conservative bloc (CDU-CSU) in the Bundestag, to reshuffle certain posts. However, the attempt to revitalise the government risks fuelling discontent within his own party, with an effect contrary to that intended.
A Waltz between the Chancellery and the Ministry of Health
All the changes involve members of the CDU. To replace Spahn, who has been engulfed in controversy over his use of surrogacy in the United States (thereby circumventing the ban in Germany), Merz has chosen the staunchly loyal Head of the Chancellery, Thorsten Frei, thereby freeing up a key post. As announced on Friday 24 July, the current Health Minister, Nina Warken, will take on this role.
She will be the first woman in Germany to hold this post, which acts as a link between the Chancellery, the ministries and members of parliament. Warken will have to do a better job than Frei at resolving conflicts and maintaining contact between the party leadership, the regional groups and the federal government. “She will be my most important support in the day-to-day work of government,” said Merz.
A year ago, Merz had, somewhat unexpectedly, entrusted Warken, a lawyer from Baden-Württemberg, with the task of leading the reform of the healthcare system. The task of seeing this through will now fall to another party heavyweight, Carsten Linnemann, who was left out of the government team in May last year after having led the healthcare negotiations during the coalition talks. Linnemann had also been in charge of the 2025 election campaign, which ended with the CDU’s second-worst result since the war, even though the party still secured government with a relative majority. It is now trailing Alternative für Deutschland in the polls.
A new man to liaise with the Länder
There is also a change at the Ministry for Relations between the Federal Government and the Länder, with Philipp Amthor – previously State Secretary for Digital Affairs – taking up the post. In the first year of his term, relations between Berlin and the regions have not been exactly rosy. Tensions came to a head in May, when the Chamber of the Länder rejected a measure proposed by the government and approved by the Bundestag, which would have allowed companies to offer their employees a tax-free bonus of up to €1,000 to help tackle the crisis.
