Merz starts gov't reshuffle after surrogacy controversy

BERLIN

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (2ndR) gives a press statement on personnel changes in his cabinet, along with (from L) Outgoing parliamentary State Secretary in the Digital Ministry Philipp Amthor, outgoing German Health Minister Nina Warken and outgoing Secretary General of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Carsten Linnemann, on July 24, 2026 in the garden of the Chancellery in Berlin.(AFP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced a cabinet reshuffle July 24 sparked by a controversy over a senior lawmaker's use of a surrogate mother while hinting at more changes to come.

Jens Spahn resigned as the chairman of Merz's centre-right CDU/CSU alliance in parliament last week after it emerged he and his husband had had a child via a surrogate in the United States, despite surrogacy being illegal in Germany and vehemently opposed by the CDU.

Earlier this week, Spahn was replaced by Merz's chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, and on July 24, Merz announced Frei would be replaced by current Health Minister Nina Warken.

Warken's post will in turn be taken by CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann.

"There will be further changes in the cabinet," Merz told reporters on July 24, adding they would take at least "a few more days, especially given the summer break".

The reshuffle is the first since Merz took office last year at the head of a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Merz and the government parties have been languishing in the opinion polls as they struggle to jump-start the stuttering economy and see off the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

According to the Bild daily, part of the wider reshuffle will be the dismissal of CDU Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder over his lack of progress in improving the country's creaking infrastructure despite a rise in the department's budget.