47-year-old Steffen Bilger from the conservative CDU party led by F. Merz will be officially appointed as Minister of Transport on Wednesday, replacing Patrick Schnieder, F. Merz announced at a press conference following a party leadership meeting.
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Talks that F. Merz intends to dismiss P. Schnieder began circulating last week, but according to German media, an official announcement was not made because the candidate initially chosen to replace him withdrew at the last moment.
P. Schnieder remained in office for a few more days and on Sunday requested to be relieved of his duties.
On Monday, F. Merz told journalists that he “regrets the situation” caused by the failed dismissal of P. Schnieder and stated that he has “no problems” with him.
P. Schnieder was criticized for several months for insufficient effectiveness in improving Germany’s railway infrastructure, which lacks investment, despite the country easing its traditional aversion to borrowing in order to increase spending on defense and infrastructure by hundreds of billions of euros.
On Monday, F. Merz said he expects S. Bilger to “prove that this massive borrowing is justified by rapid implementation – in transport projects, railways, roads, and across infrastructure.”
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The cabinet reshuffle began last week when CDU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn resigned due to a scandal involving a contract with a surrogate mother for childbirth.
J. Spahn and his husband had a child using surrogate services in the United States, although the surrogacy model is illegal in Germany and the CDU strongly opposes it.
J. Spahn will be replaced by F. Merz’s chancellery chief Thorsten Frei, and his position will be taken by the current health minister Nina Warken.
The new health minister will be CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann.
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