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Chancellor Friedrich Merz is appointing his former chief of staff Thorsten Frei as the new leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, replacing Jens Spahn. Within the group the choice meets a muted response. Commentators see it as a risky liberating move by the chancellor.

With the appointment of Thorsten Frei, Chancellor Merz is reordering the balance of power in the CDU: the former head of the Chancellery is to succeed Jens Spahn at the head of the parliamentary group. The conservative Welt describes the move as a "liberating strike" for Merz, but points out that it is of all people Frei, criticized as chief of staff, who takes over the post, shifting the power structure. The left-leaning taz sees the choice as ambivalent and warns that with Frei, Merz too stands or falls. The left-liberal Spiegel says the CDU/CSU is getting "only the second-best man," while the business-liberal Handelsblatt nonetheless detects opportunities for the chancellor in the group's less-than-enthusiastic reaction. The interpretations thus differ less in the facts than in the assessment of whether Merz is solving problems or creating new ones. It is undisputed that the chancellor's close confidant takes on a key role in leading the government majority.