Spahn's resignation boosts Merz as German chancellor eyes cabinet reshuffle

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BERLIN — The resignation of one of Friedrich Merz’s most important party stalwarts in Berlin is turning into an unexpected political gift for the German chancellor.

Jens Spahn, parliamentary leader of Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), quit on Saturday after he and his husband admitted they used a surrogate mother in the U.S. to become parents, despite the practice being banned in Germany.

While the departure initially looked like a setback, Merz moved immediately to turn the resignation to his advantage, floating the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle on Sunday .

The reshuffle is attractive to Merz because Spahn was sometimes an obstacle to him: The 46-year-old former health minister was not only an internal party rival who at times pushed back against his plans, but was also disliked by the more left-wing politicians amid his coalition partners in the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

With Spahn gone, Merz can choose a new CDU parliamentary leader to settle down the coalition. A cabinet reshuffle also allows him to make a political reset before crucial regional elections in the fall, in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to perform well and could even secure an absolute majority in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt in September.

Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius said the chancellor was now weighing his next move.

“There are always possibilities — that is, they exist, or they are seized upon, or they are not seized upon — and once a decision has been made, I think [the chancellor] will let us know,” Kornelius told reporters. “The process is underway.”

Merz and fellow high-ranking conservatives are expected to come up with a concrete proposal over the coming days.

Following a CDU leadership meeting on Monday, conservative lawmakers were asked to prepare for a gathering in the Bundestag on Wednesday next week — despite the ongoing summer recess — to elect a new parliamentary group leader, according to a message sent to lawmakers and seen by POLITICO.

In the event of a broader cabinet reshuffle involving new ministerial appointments, a full Bundestag session would need to be organized.

But a reshuffle could also prove politically challenging. In view of the upcoming regional elections in September in three German states, one of Merz’s key aims will be to prevent power struggles.

“We should make new personnel decisions soon. I consider that to be extremely important,” Daniel Peters, the CDU frontrunner in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, told POLITICO’s Berlin Playbook Podcast Monday.

Daniel Peters addresses delegates at the 41st CDU Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania Party Congress in Linstow, Germany on June 5, 2026. | John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

“If [Merz] believes that personnel changes are also necessary within the cabinet, then he will make those decisions. Now is certainly a good time to do so,” he added.

Rock-bottom ratings

A cabinet reshuffle could prove useful at a time when Merz’s government, and the chancellor himself, are facing historically low approval ratings.

Only 13 percent of Germans are satisfied with Merz’s performance, according to the latest benchmark ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll released earlier this month. That is the lowest rating for a sitting chancellor in the survey’s nearly 30-year history.

Merz’s bet is to beef up his ratings — and prevent the far right from coming to power — by bringing much-needed reforms, for example to the pension system, through parliament this fall. In doing so, he would show voters that the political center is indeed the only viable option to get things done, or at least that’s how the thinking goes in the government.

But many of those proposals will also be painful for centrist voters, and significant persuasion will still be needed to win over enough members of Merz’s razor-thin parliamentary majority of just 12 seats to approve them.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt arrives for the weekly federal government cabinet meeting in Berlin on July 15, 2026. | Christian Mang/Getty Images

Merz is therefore expected to propose a close ally for the new powerful position of parliamentary group leader — and someone who can make things work with his coalition partners in the SPD, too. Among the names being floated are his current chancellery chief, Thorsten Frei, the CDU’s General Secretary, Carsten Linnemann and his interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt.

In case of a wider reshuffle, the expectation is that at least one woman would have to be included — for example, Health Minister Nina Warken — as Merz’s current leadership team is dominated by men.

Spahn had not been the most natural partner for Merz.

In 2018, he ran against Merz for the CDU leadership, but both men lost. Three years later, he joined forces with Armin Laschet to defeat Merz and helped secure the party leadership for Laschet.

After coming to power last year, Merz made Spahn parliamentary group leader, a move widely seen as an effort to keep an ambitious rival and a strategic political thinker from leading internal dissent against the new chancellor.

Spahn was, however, also deeply unpopular within the more left-wing parts of SPD, whose votes Merz ultimately needs to get his reforms over the line.

Philipp Türmer, leader of the SPD’s youth organization, raised a glass of beer to Spahn’s exit in a social media post , citing his reported closeness to U.S. tech billionaire Peter Thiel and coronavirus fraud claims as reasons for his celebrations.

“There was no champagne,” he wrote. “But you have to make the most of whatever celebrations come your way.”

Larissa Kögl and Rixa Fürsen contributed to this report from Berlin.