Söder pushes for Bürgergeld cuts to constitutional minimum, demands national payment card law for asylum seekers

Söder's demands

Bavarian Minister-President and CSU chairman Markus Söder has called for a drastic reduction of Germany's Bürgergeld (citizen income) to the lowest level permitted by the constitution. In an interview with Bild am Sonntag published on 21 June 2026, he insisted the basic rates must be brought to "the absolute constitutional minimum."

“If you add up what someone with children, allowances, housing and standard rates can receive, it is still a very, very high amount that meets with little understanding in the population.”

The CSU leader also demanded that Ukrainian refugees should no longer be financed through the Bürgergeld system. "It cannot be that after a reform the same amounts of 50 billion stand," Söder said, referring to the programme's annual cost. He insisted on a legal change to ensure Ukrainians are no longer co-financed via citizen income.

Reform context

The current Bürgergeld replaced the controversial Hartz IV system in 2023 and currently pays a single person 563 euros per month. Around 5.3 to 5.5 million recipients are enrolled. From 1 July 2026, a new Grundsicherung (basic security benefit) will take effect with stricter rules, including the possibility of full sanctions for non-cooperation. Despite the reform, Söder argues overall spending must still fall from the roughly 50 billion euro level.

“The citizen income of nearly 50 billion euros per year can make a decisive contribution to budget consolidation.”

Interior Minister Dobrindt, also from the CSU, said earlier in the week that more savings are possible than currently planned.

Coalition tensions

Söder's demands immediately drew pushback from the coalition partner SPD and even from within the Union. CDU labour wing chairman Dennis Radtke called the intervention confusing, stating the transformation to the new Grundsicherung already fulfilled a central campaign promise.

“Why we are restarting the discussion from the beginning is not clear to me.”

The CSU in the Bundestag signalled fundamental support, but sharp opposition came from the SPD and the opposition. Söder also drew red lines against a VAT increase or the abolition of spouse splitting and the Mütterrente, a supplementary pension for mothers.

Migration and the payment card

Beyond social welfare, Söder demanded a nationwide law to enforce the payment card for asylum seekers. "In the migration area, returns and voluntary departures must be increased to massively lower costs. This can be achieved especially through the payment card," he said. He accused several federal states of refusing to implement the card and suggested that NGOs attempting to circumvent it should face criminal penalties.

Civil society groups such as the refugee council have previously criticised the payment card as an instrument of control that discriminates against vulnerable people.