For The First Time, A Woman Will Head The German Chancellor's Office
- 24.07.2026, 12:47
She is capable of implementing reforms and is a "tough negotiator."
Former German Health Minister Nina Warken will become the new head of the Federal Chancellor’s Office. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Friedrich Merz) announced this on Friday, July 24, in Berlin, as part of a series of government reshuffles. Warken will replace Thorsten Frei in this position, who is expected to lead the parliamentary group of the ruling conservative CDU/CSU bloc in the Bundestag, according to "Deutsche Welle".
With Nina Warken’s appointment, the Office of the Federal Chancellor will be headed by a woman for the first time. According to Merz, in her recent months as health minister, she has demonstrated “that she is capable of leading the ministry and pushing through reforms despite resistance.” In addition, she is a “tough negotiator,” he added.
Earlier, it was reported that the leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and former German Health Minister Jens Spahn (Jens Spahn), is stepping down amid a scandal over surrogacy.
Linnemann will take over as Germany’s health minister
The vacant position of German Health Minister will be filled by the Secretary General of the ruling Christian Democratic Union Carsten Linnemann (Carsten Linnemann). He will take on responsibility for the upcoming reform of the care system and further structural changes in the healthcare sector, the German chancellor announced. “We must stay the course on reforms, and to do so, we need a minister who is both firm and ready to push for reforms, even in the face of opposition,” he emphasized.
Philipp Amthor (Philipp Amthor) will become the new State Minister in the Federal Chancellor’s Office and will oversee relations between the German government and the federal states. He will also be responsible for modernizing the state, Friedrich Merz stated. He added that there will be other reshuffles, but they will follow later.
Surrogacy Scandal
Jens Spahn found himself at the center of a scandal after he and his husband announced that they had become parents. Their son was born to a surrogate mother in the United States. Surrogacy is prohibited in Germany. Span himself, as head of the Ministry of Health—and the CDU as a whole—had opposed its legalization.
Moreover, in February 2026, at its party convention, the party adopted a resolution reaffirming its position on surrogacy. Spahn was present at that event, even though a surrogate mother was already carrying a child fathered by his husband Daniel Funke (Daniel Funke). In 2015, Span said in an interview with GQ that it was “very difficult for him to come to terms with the idea of a ‘surrogate mother.’” “Admitting that I won’t be able to become a father naturally requires tremendous humility. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring myself to do it,” he added at the time.
In 2020, the center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP) initiated a debate on liberalizing surrogacy laws in Germany. Spahn, who served as health minister at the time, spoke out against it.
According to dpa sources, following a wave of criticism directed at Spahn, Friedrich Merz himself demanded his resignation. Nevertheless, the politician and his wife have no reason to fear legal consequences. In the United States, the law does not prohibit surrogacy, and in Germany, it is permitted to raise a child born through surrogacy abroad.