Friedrich Merz Becomes Germany’s Leader After Unexpected Day of Drama
Mr. Merz needed two rounds of voting to become chancellor after a surprising defeat in Parliament hours earlier that threatened to hobble his new government.
Jim TankersleyChristopher F. SchuetzeMelissa Eddy and Clay Risen
Reporting from BerlinFriedrich Merz won a second-chance vote to become Germany’s chancellor on Tuesday afternoon, rebounding from a morning defeat in Parliament that threatened to hobble the next government before it was sworn into office.
Mr. Merz immediately began the ceremonial tasks of assuming the country’s top leadership post, which were delayed half a day by the events in Parliament, and he and his cabinet were sworn in after meeting with Germany’s president. On Wednesday, Mr. Merz is set to travel to Paris and Warsaw to meet with key allies.
The vote was a relief for Mr. Merz, 69, the leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, which finished first in national elections in February.
He had fallen six votes short of the chancellery in the initial vote on Tuesday morning, a surprising and demoralizing setback. It was the first time a chancellor candidate had failed to win in the first round of voting since the founding of modern Germany.
Rival parties agreed on Tuesday afternoon to allow Mr. Merz a second chance at the job on an accelerated timetable, with many saying they were concerned for the stability of the country at a critical time for Germany and Europe. But other parties also said the initial defeat had hurt Mr. Merz and exposed the weakness of his coalition with the center-left Social Democrats.
“This government starts out in extreme instability,” said Bernd Baumann, a representative from the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in a speech shortly before the vote. “And it will remain unstable. That is the opposite of what Germany needs.”
German stocks had slid on the news of the first vote, with economists warning it could be an ominous sign for Mr. Merz’s agenda to revitalize growth in Europe’s biggest economy. Germany’s blue chip index fell, led by drops in defense and energy companies that stood to benefit from the future government’s planned investment programs.
In the first, secret ballot, Mr. Merz was six votes short of a 316-vote majority, and the identity of the holdouts was unclear. In the vote, 307 lawmakers voted against Mr. Merz and nine abstained. The opposition has 302 votes, suggesting that some in Mr. Merz’s coalition had opposed him.
But Mr. Merz’s coalition rallied behind him in the afternoon, with members warning of dire consequences from further delay. He received 325 votes in the second round.
“It is important that Germany gets a stable government, that we can very quickly start working within reliable structures, and that we work to ensure that this country is strong and well governed,” Lars Klingbeil of the Social Democrats, who is expected to become Germany’s next vice chancellor, told reporters.
Here’s what else to know:
Previous stumbles: It was not the first time this year that Mr. Merz had lost a high-profile vote in embarrassing fashion. In January, he stirred controversy — and nationwide protests — by forcing a vote on tough new immigration restrictions. He broke a political taboo in the process, by trying to pass the measures with the help of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD. But the final vote failed, after many lawmakers from Mr. Merz’s own party rebelled.
German far right: The AfD finished second in the February elections, though no other German party will work with it. It has since been classified as far-right extremist by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. After Mr. Merz lost the vote on Tuesday, the AfD’s chancellor candidate, Alice Weidel, called for new elections — a call that will almost certainly be ignored.
Relations with Europe: On Wednesday, Mr. Merz had scheduled visits to Paris and Warsaw to meet with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, demonstrating a commitment to two key alliances on what will be his first full day as chancellor.
Parliament is suspended for the day. Germany has a new government. Merz now heads over the chancellery for the first time as chancellor; after that, he will preside over his first cabinet meeting, which is scheduled for 10 p.m. local time in Berlin. In the end, failure to win the post in the first vote -- a first for a candidate for chancellor in modern Germany -- has only cost a couple of hours and a lot of nerves. Many feared it could have been worse.
Parliament has resumed one last time today. Julia Klöckner, the body’s president, is reading out the names of the cabinet to applause from lawmakers who are part of the governing coalition of the new chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTAfter handing out nomination documents to Merz’s slate of 17 ministers, the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeir, gave a short speech wishing them luck. The ministers then got back into their cars to head back to Parliament to be sworn in.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president since 2017, is a former leader of the Social Democrats who in 2009 led his party to a resounding loss to Angela Merkel and the Christian Democrats. He is now Germany’s head of state, in charge of officially approving the new government of Friedrich Merz.
Olaf Scholz, the now former chancellor of Germany, has been a symbol of stability during today’s hectic voting, insisting that the transfer of power to his successor happen quickly and smoothly. The process, Scholz said in his farewell address on Monday night, was an “expression of democratic normality.” He was among the first to shake hands with Merz after today’s second vote confirmed his election as chancellor.
Merz’s cabinet is now holding a meeting with President Steinmeier, where they will receive their nomination documents.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTAs Friedrich Merz took the oath of office as Germany’s chancellor on Tuesday, congratulatory messages arrived from the leaders of Ukraine and France, two men with whom he will be working closely over the coming year. “We sincerely hope that Germany will grow even stronger and that we’ll see more German leadership in European and transatlantic affairs,” wrote President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on X. “This is especially important with the future of Europe at stake — and it will depend on our unity.” President Emmanuel Macron of France added, in his own message on X, “It’s up to us to push forward our European agenda for sovereignty, security, and competitiveness. For the French, the Germans, and all Europeans.”
Parliament is suspended once more so that Merz and his ministers can be driven across the park to pick up their nomination documents from the President.
Holding up his right hand, Merz takes the oath of office. He is now officially the 10th chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Parliament is back in session. Julia Klöckner, the president of Germany’s Parliament, puts on a pair of white gloves to be able to hold the original copy of the country’s basic law — a 76-year-old document — in preparation.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTA large German flag has been brought into Parliament; Merz’s swearing-in will take place in front of it.
German businesses and investors breathed a collective sigh of relief after Merz succeeded in being elected chancellor in a second round of voting in Parliament. The country’s leading stock index recovered much of the ground it lost after the initial, failed, vote and economists expressed confidence that if the new government moves forward swiftly and decisively with its planned program of investments, the damage will be limited. “As long as the new government now quickly implements its 100-day program with the urgently needed relief for the German economy, the fact that it took two attempts to elect the chancellor will quickly fade into the background,” said Marion Muehlberger, an economist at Deutsche Bank Research.
In a very brief ceremony, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany handed Merz his official nomination document. Now Merz heads back to Parliament to be sworn in.
Today’s unexpected drama in the Parliament, or Bundestag, had politicians across Europe concerned about what Merz’s stumble might mean for a continent that is increasingly looking to Germany for economic and political leadership. “Naturally we need a strong government in Berlin,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said in an interview with the German broadcaster Phoenix. “What happens in German politics, but also in its economy, has an impact on all European countries.”
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTMerz has arrived at Bellevue Palace, Germany’s presidential residence, in a black Mercedes limousine. He will sign the guest book and speak with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, before receiving his official nomination document bound in a black leather envelope.
Now that Merz has passed this second vote, he drives to meet Germany’s president to receive official papers and then heads back to parliament to be sworn in. Then he presents his slate of ministers, who also have to meet with the president to pick up their papers, before returning to be sworn in.
Lawmakers are lining up to congratulate Friedrich Merz on the floor of Parliament. Among the first are a number of Green Party members seated close to him when the vote was called.
Friedrich Merz has been elected chancellor after a second round of voting in Germany’s Parliament.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTSitting at a cafe near the Spree River in Berlin, Heike Albricht and Ariana Heussler, two bank workers, said they found Merz’s failure to win the first vote dispiriting but predictable. “The parties have been focused on fighting each other for three years,” Heussler said. “It sends a bad signal to the world.” Hamudi Kafri, a caterer, said he was disappointed in Merz, but also blamed his enemies in the Bundestag for the failed vote. “After the last government, everyone was skeptical,” he said during a break outside his office. “Those behind the scenes did not want him to take charge.”
The second round of voting is underway. Some 42,000 people are currently watching the official livestream of the vote from the German Bundestag.
Parliament is back in session. Lawmakers have taken their places and are getting ready for the second secret ballot to decide whether Friedrich Merz will become the country’s new chancellor.
Minutes after Friedrich Merz lost a first parliamentary vote needed to become chancellor on Tuesday morning, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the joint leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, demanded that Mr. Merz resign and fresh elections be held.
“It is a good day for Germany,” Mr. Chrupalla told reporters. But he and Ms. Weidel are among a small minority in political circles in Berlin who feel that way.
Though a second parliamentary vote for chancellor is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the uncertainty that resulted will likely benefit the populist AfD. The party has long campaigned on the claim that mainstream parties no longer govern to help the people.
Tuesday’s mess could make that point for them. Ever since Mr. Merz and his center-right Christian Democrats won the national election in February, the AfD’s poll numbers have risen as voters take issue with the compromises that the Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats have made to work together as coalition partners. The AfD won 20.8 percent of the vote in February, but the party now polls at around 25 percent, sometimes more than the Christian Democrats.
This potential boost for the AfD comes days after Germany’s domestic intelligence agency labeled the party extremist, which has reinvigorated a debate about whether it should be banned outright.
All parties, including the AfD, know that if Mr. Merz does not win the required votes to become chancellor in subsequent votes (there is no limit on how many can take place), Germany’s President will call new elections. That would likely benefit the AfD.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTGerman businesses had been counting on Friedrich Merz and his new coalition with the Social Democrats to reinstate two elements they had been missing under the previous government: stability and predictability.
Instead, Mr. Merz failed to win enough support to become chancellor in the first round of voting in Parliament. The shock decision sent stocks tumbling and raised questions about the ability of the next government to revive growth in Europe’s biggest economy.
Last month, the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz scaled back its growth forecasts for the country, which is now expected to remain stagnant for a third consecutive year. President Trump’s tariffs are hurting Germany’s export-oriented economy and many businesses were looking to the Mr. Merz’s planned investment in infrastructure and defense for relief.
“This will undermine business trust in Mr. Merz,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank.
German stocks slid on the news, with the country’s benchmark index down more than 1.6 percent before paring some of those losses. Shares in German defense and energy companies that had been attracting investors eager to cash in on the billions the coalition planned to spend on the military were hardest hit.
In March, Mr. Merz secured support from Parliament to ease a limit on government borrowing. The agreement also included backing for hundreds of billions of euros to invest in the country’s crumbling infrastructure that the new government had pledged to begin distributing within weeks of its election.
“Everybody was looking forward to having a stable government to start enacting the necessary reforms in an increasingly unstable political environment,” said Robert Gold, an economist at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. “But the Parliament’s decision today just added uncertainty.”
But Mr. Gold said that if Mr. Merz were to be elected in a second round, it would not leave lasting damage. “I think this can easily be healed,” he said.
Friedrich Merz’s chancellorship was supposed to start with a whirlwind tour: Paris, Warsaw, then Ukraine and, eventually, Washington.
The plan had been to use the visits to strengthen or rebuild key alliances and establish Germany as a leading foreign policy force in an increasingly isolated Europe. But that travel could be delayed by Mr. Merz’s failure to secure the chancellorship in the first round of parliamentary voting on Tuesday.
If and when the trips happen, any meetings with other leaders will undoubtedly be clouded by new questions over whether a Merz government can be counted on to deliver on its promises — militarily, economically or otherwise.
In the immediate aftermath of his party winning national elections in February, Mr. Merz appeared to have a weakened hand. His popularity with Germans was not high, with his Christian Democrats winning a fairly low share of the vote. But Mr. Merz was determined to play a forceful role in Europe and beyond.
“Germany is back,” he declared in March, announcing an agreement with center-left parties to relax government borrowing limits and plans to spend significantly more on national defense, infrastructure and initiatives to combat climate change. “Germany is making a major contribution to defending freedom and peace in Europe.”
That spending burst was a big reason Mr. Merz stood — and could still stand — a good chance of emerging as a key figure for a continent suffering from a leadership vacuum in France and Germany, its two largest economies. The other reason was President Trump, whose moves to impose new tariffs and threats to pull back American military support in Europe have given a shared purpose to continental leaders.
On both fronts, Mr. Merz could be hurt by the vote Tuesday, even if he quickly rebounds to secure the support he needs.
The result could be a sign that Mr. Merz may struggle to pass legislation to approve the new borrowing and military spending, which was effectively greenlit in March, but not actually appropriated.
It could also be interpreted as a sign of weakness by Mr. Trump, complicating Mr. Merz’s efforts to simultaneously push back against Washington’s defense and economic policies while cultivating a personal relationship with the president.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTFriedrich Merz was well ahead in the polls in January when he made a decision that drew hundreds of thousands of Germans into the streets in protest, and may have seeded his failure on Tuesday to become chancellor in the first round of parliamentary voting.
Germany had just been rattled by the killing of a toddler and an adult in Bavaria, at the hands of an Afghan immigrant who authorities said suffered from mental health issues. It was the latest in a string of deadly attacks committed by immigrants in Germany over the course of a year, and Mr. Merz decided it needed an immediate response.
He pushed Parliament to vote on a package of measures to toughen immigration policy — and he did so knowing that the only way they could pass would be with votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD. That broke a longstanding taboo in German politics.
The move may have helped Mr. Merz and his Christian Democrats shore up support among voters upset over immigration. But in several ways, it backfired on Mr. Merz. First, he lost the most important vote on the measures, after members of his own party rebelled.
He then handed a potent issue to Germany’s far-left party, Die Linke, which rode the backlash to a surprisingly strong finish in the February election. Die Linke’s gains helped to undermine the strength of the center-left parties Mr. Merz needed to form a governing coalition. He entered Tuesday’s vote with a thin majority, and when he lost 18 votes from his own coalition, he failed to become chancellor on the first ballot. The loss left him six votes short of a win.
Mr. Merz may also have been hindered in the vote by his response to the protests that greeted his immigration vote. Stung by accusations that he was collaborating with the far right, Mr. Merz and allies in Parliament submitted a request for information on the tax-exempt status of progressive organizations that helped organize protests.
That request angered progressives, including Social Democrats who eventually decided to join Mr. Merz’s governing coalition anyway, seeing the move as a clear attempt to intimidate anyone speaking out against Mr. Merz and his party.
Tuesday’s vote was anonymous, so it is unclear how many Social Democrats voted against Mr. Merz — or why.
But the would-be chancellor had recently alienated members of his own party as well, for a different reason.
After campaigning on promises of fiscal frugality, Mr. Merz reversed course post-election, joining with the Social Democrats and the center-left Green Party to relax government borrowing rules in order to spend freely on the military, infrastructure and other projects.
Jens Spahn, the parliamentary leader for Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats, announced that a second vote would be held at 3:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. Eastern). “All of Europe and maybe even the whole world is watching this second vote,” he told reporters.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTGetting out of Parliament and into the chancellery is only the first big problem facing Friedrich Merz. If and when he assembles the votes to become Germany’s next leader, he will inherit mounting challenges at home and abroad.
The German economy shrank last year, continuing a half-decade malaise that has demoralized workers and business leaders alike. Prospects for new growth appear dim, particularly with the threats posed to Germany’s export-oriented manufacturing sector by President Trump’s moves to impose high new tariffs.
Mr. Trump is also threatening to rip away America’s European defense umbrella, complicating relations between Germany and the United States, its most important ally of the postwar era. A hostile and aggressive Russia invaded Ukraine to the east and embarked on what appears to be a deliberate sabotage campaign targeting Europe.
Those developments drove Mr. Merz to push a centrist compromise through a lame-duck session of Parliament in March. That deal relaxes Germany’s hallowed limits on government borrowing to allow significant increases in spending on the military, infrastructure improvements and efforts to combat climate change, in an effort to bolster national security and economic competitiveness. If he makes it into office, Mr. Merz will need to command majorities to spend that newly borrowed money as effectively as possible.
He will also need to act decisively to address Germans’ concerns about a decade-long flow of immigration to the country from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere — concerns that have been inflamed by a string of deadly attacks committed by immigrants.
And he will need to hold off the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, that has drawn nearly even with Mr. Merz’s Christian Democrats in national polls. The AfD has promised to crack down on migration, and it has gained support from voters disillusioned with Germany’s longtime governing class on the center left and the center right. It has also been classified as a far-right extremist group by German intelligence.
Mr. Merz is betting that if the government can effectively respond to voter concerns over the economy, migration and security, support for the AfD will fade. But the surprise vote Tuesday, in which he failed to get enough support to become chancellor, shows just how difficult it could be for Mr. Merz to corral an effective response to any one of those problems.
Friedrich Merz was poised to be sworn in as Germany’s 10th chancellor on Tuesday morning. Instead, he failed to win enough votes in Parliament, which is usually merely a symbolic step, falling just six votes short of a 316-vote majority in a secret ballot.
Hours later, lawmakers said a second vote was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon local time. There is no limit on the number of votes that can take place over the next two weeks.
But if Mr. Merz fails again to secure a majority in subsequent votes, the process enters a third phase when lawmakers can select a new chancellor using a relative majority. This means that more than one candidate would be put forward and the one with the most votes, not necessarily a majority, would win. Since Mr. Merz’s center-right Christian Democrats have the most seats, he, or someone else in that party, would likely win.
But if a chancellor is elected using only a relative majority, Germany’s president, who usually plays a symbolic role, could decide to call for new elections.
This was the first time a would-be chancellor failed to secure a majority in Parliament in the 76 years of modern Germany, and the transfer of power is now paused. Ministers cannot be named or sworn in, meaning that Olaf Scholz and his cabinet will remain in a caretaker government until things are resolved.
For Mr. Merz, even if he is eventually voted in, the reputational damage to him could be severe.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTBefore he returned to politics, won a national election and became the first would-be chancellor in modern German history to fail to win the job on the first ballot in Parliament, Friedrich Merz accepted an invitation to a gathering of the French Foreign Legion in Corsica.
At the last moment, the organizers asked him to arrive on the parade ground not by road or rail, but by parachute. Mr. Merz, then a corporate lawyer, had never jumped out of a plane. But a fellow attendee recalled recently that Mr. Merz did not hesitate. He made the jump — successfully, but with a bit of a rough landing.
It is not yet clear what the long-term implications are of Mr. Merz’s more recent rough landing — his bid to become Germany’s next chancellor.
After requiring two rounds of voting in Parliament, he will become Germany’s next leader. But he will do so at a pivotal time for the nation’s economy, security and role in Europe, and with fresh questions swirling around him.
The inability to secure enough votes Tuesday to become chancellor on the first vote comes as he needs to wrangle lawmakers to confront crises at home and abroad, while holding off a surge from the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
Mr. Merz is a product of the Sauerland in Germany’s wealthy west, a region that defines his politics and persona. During his campaign, he ran on the slogan “More Sauerland for Germany,” evoking the region’s image as a heartland of the country.
Supporters call him an agile politician with the potential to deliver on the big issues worrying the German public: growth, defense, immigration.
“I think he’s extremely well prepared and very deep and thoughtful,” said John P. Schmitz, a deputy White House counsel under George H.W. Bush. Mr. Schmitz helped hire Mr. Merz to work in the German offices of the Chicago law firm Mayer Brown and jumped out of the plane in Corsica with Mr. Merz around 2005.
But others say Mr. Merz struggles to plan more than one step ahead, leading him to break promises — and leaving him vulnerable to surprise setbacks like the vote Tuesday.
His about-faces on spending and migration have alienated many of his base’s conservative voters. And Mr. Merz and his party have sagged in the polls since the election, allowing the AfD to draw even with them in some surveys. Even before his parliamentary stumble on Tuesday, he had one of the lowest approval ratings of any German leader in the modern era.
“There’s this old saying: ‘Whatever you do, act wisely and consider the end,’” said Ruprecht Polenz, a former secretary general of Mr. Merz’s party. “This thinking,” he added, “I feel is not his main strength.”
Read more about Mr. Merz, his background and his approach to politics in our profile of him.
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