Fourth Merkel cabinet

Fourth Cabinet of Angela Merkel Merkel IV
24th Cabinet of the Federal Republic of Germany
2018–2021
Signing of the coalition agreement for the 19th Bundestag on 12 March 2018
Date formed	14 March 2018
People and organisations
President	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Vice-Chancellor	Olaf Scholz
Member parties	Christian Democratic Union Social Democratic Party Christian Social Union in Bavaria
Status in legislature	Grand coalition
Opposition parties	Alternative for Germany Free Democratic Party The Left The Greens
Opposition leaders	Alice Weidel (AfD) & Alexander Gauland (AfD)
History
Election(s)	2017 federal election
Legislature term(s)	19th Bundestag
Predecessor	Merkel III

This article is part of a series about Angela Merkel
MdB for Vorpommern-Rügen – Vorpommern-Greifswald I Christian Democratic Union of Germany Controversies Merkel-Raute Revolution of 1989 Democratic Awakening 1990 East German election German reunification Kohl Administration Minister for Women and Youth Minister for the Environment Leader of the Christian Democratic Union CDU donations scandal 2002 election Chancellor of Germany Incumbent First Ministry and term 2005 election First Merkel cabinet EU Council presidency 33rd G8 summit Treaty of Lisbon Berlin Declaration Financial crisis Stimulus plan 2009 presidential election Second Ministry and term 2009 election Second Merkel cabinet 2010 presidential election Health care reform Energiewende European debt crisis Single Supervisory Mechanism Bundeswehr reform 2012 presidential election NSA surveillance Third Ministry and term 2013 election Third Merkel cabinet Crimean conflict Normandy format 41st G7 summit European migrant crisis Willkommenskultur 2017 presidential election 2017 G20 Hamburg summit Fourth Ministry and term 2017 election Fourth Merkel cabinet Coronavirus pandemic Family Foreign policy
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The Fourth Merkel cabinet (German: Kabinett Merkel IV) is the 24th and current Government of Federal Republic of Germany, sworn in on 14 March 2018 after Angela Merkel was proposed as Chancellor by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and elected by the Bundestag on the first ballot.^[1]

The government is supported by a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD),^[2] as was its immediate predecessor. Olaf Scholz (SPD) replaced Sigmar Gabriel as Vice-Chancellor of Germany and CSU Leader Horst Seehofer became Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community.

Composition[]

The cabinet consists of Chancellor Angela Merkel and fifteen (fourteen since 20 May 2021) federal ministers. Fourteen ministers head a department (since 20 May 2021, one minister heads two departments); one member of the cabinet, the Head of the Chancellery, is Federal Minister for Special Affairs without a portfolio. The CDU has seven positions, the SPD has six and the CSU has three, as follows:

Order[3]	Office	Portrait	Minister	Party		Took office	Left office
1	Chancellor		Angela Merkel	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
2	Vice-Chancellor Federal Minister of Finance		Olaf Scholz	SPD		14 March 2018	Incumbent
3	Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community		Horst Seehofer	CSU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
4	Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs		Heiko Maas	SPD		14 March 2018	Incumbent
5	Federal Minister of Economics and Energy		Peter Altmaier	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
6	Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection		Katarina Barley	SPD		14 March 2018	27 June 2019
			Christine Lambrecht	SPD		27 June 2019	Incumbent
7	Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs		Hubertus Heil	SPD		14 March 2018	Incumbent
8	Federal Minister of Defence		Ursula von der Leyen	CDU		17 December 2013	17 July 2019
			Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer	CDU		17 July 2019	Incumbent
9	Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture		Julia Klöckner	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
10	Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth		Franziska Giffey	SPD		14 March 2018	20 March 2021
			Christine Lambrecht	SPD		20 March 2021	Incumbent
11	Federal Minister of Health		Jens Spahn	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
12	Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure		Andreas Scheuer	CSU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
13	Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety		Svenja Schulze	SPD		14 March 2018	Incumbent
14	Federal Minister of Education and Research		Anja Karliczek	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
15	Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development		Gerd Müller	CSU		14 March 2018	Incumbent
16	Federal Minister for Special Affairs Head of the Chancellery		Helge Braun	CDU		14 March 2018	Incumbent

2018 government crisis[]

In June 2018, a government crisis erupted within the cabinet between Interior Minister and CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer and Chancellor Angela Merkel, after Seehofer had elaborated a masterplan on asylum policies, containing the rejection of asylum seekers already registered in other EU countries.^[4] Seehofer threatened to resign over the crisis on 1 July, but an agreement was made between the CDU/CSU sister parties on 2 July.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Cabinet of Germany (English)
• Federal Ministries of Germany (English)