The Federal President will be responsible for the resignation and appointment of several ministers this Wednesday, preceding a highly anticipated faction meeting.
According to the current schedule, the Federal President is due to hand over the letters of resignation to Chancellor’s Minister Thorsten Frei, Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder, and Health Minister Nina Warken (all CDU) at 12:00 PM. Immediately afterward, the President will present Nina Warken with her appointment as Chancellor’s Minister, and hand over the certificates for the posts of Health Minister to Carsten Linnemann and Transport Minister to Steffen Bilger (all CDU).
Only after these official ceremonies will the Union faction convene. Following a presentation by CDU party leader and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, they are expected to elect Thorsten Frei-who was just dismissed as minister-as the faction leader, replacing the departed Jens Spahn. The faction meeting is set for 2:00 PM due to reconstruction work on the floor directly within the German Bundestag plenary chamber. This meeting will be held in a larger venue than usual and will be strictly guarded against external access, particularly for media representatives, ensuring the session remains private and off the record.
The special session is allotted a tight one-hour window, as a press conference has been scheduled for 3:00 PM. This conference will feature Friedrich Merz, Markus Söder, Alexander Hoffmann, and “the newly elected chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group,” as officially announced. While it is generally considered likely that the process will go smoothly and Frei will be elected, surprises cannot be ruled out.
Overall, however, the atmosphere is reportedly poor. For several days, dissatisfaction within the Union faction has been sparked by the requirement for members to interrupt their holidays and travel at their own expense. While this may appear to be a minor detail from the outside, the strong frustration felt by some members became evident on Monday. In a letter sent by CDU regional parliament colleagues from Rhineland-Palatinate, they cancelled a meeting with Merz, expressing anger over the sweeping cabinet reshuffle and the dismissal of Patrick Schnieder. They spoke of a “lack of trust” and a “low morale.”
Later in the evening, Tino Sorge, the disgraced parliamentary state secretary in the Health Ministry (also CDU), publicly criticized the changes. He did not hesitate to express harsh words and cynicism toward Merz. In a written statement, he hoped that the Chancellor’s decisions were guided by “a higher logic,” an opinion that quickly went viral on X/Twitter and garnered a million views by nightfall.
