Merz reshuffles cabinet: Warken becomes first female Chancellery chief, Linnemann takes health

The reshuffle

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has assembled a broad personnel package following the resignation of parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn on Saturday. According to multiple media reports on Thursday evening, Health Minister Nina Warken will move to the Chancellery as chief of staff, replacing Thorsten Frei, who is set to be elected leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group next Wednesday. CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann will take over the health ministry, while party treasurer Franziska Hoppermann is slated to become the new party manager. Digital state secretary Philipp Amthor will join the Chancellery as federal-state coordinator, succeeding Michael Meister.

Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius declined to confirm the moves, telling AFP:

The Chancellor will announce the personnel decisions once all outstanding points have been clarified.

Merz is expected to present the package on Friday morning in Berlin, though insiders told Reuters he still planned several conversations on Thursday evening.

Warken's rise

Nina Warken, 47, a lawyer from Baden-Württemberg, has been a Bundestag member since 2013 and served as parliamentary business manager of the CDU/CSU group in the last legislative term. She took over the health ministry in May 2025 as an outsider to the portfolio and quickly delivered a contentious savings law for statutory health insurance, cutting nearly 20 billion euros in spending next year to stabilise contribution rates. She also launched a structural reform of the healthcare system and a nursing care reform due to reach cabinet after the summer break.

Her appointment makes her the first woman to head the Chancellery in postwar Germany. Merz praised her in April as having "courage, judgment, honesty and empathy" when she presented the health reform. As head of the CDU Women's Union, which represents 155,000 female party members, Warken also addresses criticism that the Chancellor's inner circle is an all-male club. All of Merz's closest advisers are currently men: the two key department heads for foreign and economic policy, the government spokesman, the outgoing Chancellery chief and his office manager.

Linnemann's second chance

Carsten Linnemann had declined a cabinet post after last year's election, saying he wanted to continue rebuilding the party.

We have worked hard over the last three years to rebuild our CDU. This process is not yet complete. I want to continue it.

He had been discussed as a potential super-minister for economy, labour and social affairs, but that merger never materialised. Now he accepts the health portfolio, a move that brings a key Merz confidant into the cabinet after 15 months in which he struggled to make his mark in the party headquarters under the Chancellor's shadow.

Other moves

Franziska Hoppermann, the 44-year-old CDU treasurer and Bundestag member, is in line to succeed Linnemann as party manager. Philipp Amthor, currently parliamentary state secretary in the digital ministry, will become the new federal-state coordinator in the Chancellery, replacing Michael Meister.

What's next

The reshuffle was triggered by Jens Spahn's resignation as parliamentary group leader on Saturday. Thorsten Frei, who is vacating the Chancellery, is expected to be elected to that post by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on Wednesday. Merz had initially presented only the new group leader on Wednesday, citing respect for the parliamentary group. The full package is now set to be unveiled on Friday, pending final conversations.