Federal Minister for Transport

A reshuffle with an unplanned second step

Bilger's appointment came out of a cabinet reshuffle that was not originally about the transport ministry. It began when Jens Spahn stepped down as leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz had to fill a chain of posts.

On Friday 24 July 2026 Merz announced the first round. Thorsten Frei moved from the Federal Chancellery to lead the parliamentary group; Health Minister Nina Warken became the first woman to head the Chancellery; CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann became Health Minister. Merz said further changes would follow "in the coming days".

One of them concerned transport. Berliner Zeitung reported persistent dissatisfaction with Patrick Schnieder's handling of the railways and infrastructure, adding that little progress was visible despite a record budget. The CDU finance politician Fritz Güntzler had been lined up as his successor, but he declined on the morning of 24 July; Bild reported that he sent Merz a text message at around four in the morning. Several days of uncertainty followed.

On the evening of Sunday 27 July the government spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, confirmed that Bilger would take over. Schnieder had asked Merz to dismiss him, describing the situation of the preceding days as „unwürdig" ("undignified", translation). Merz thanked him and said he regretted that "unforeseen developments" had prevented the handover from being communicated as planned. The Stuttgarter Zeitung called it the most controversial personnel change of the reshuffle within the CDU/CSU.

At the time Bilger, then 47, was First Parliamentary Manager (Erster Parlamentarischer Geschäftsführer) of the CDU/CSU group, the post that organises the group's parliamentary business. Euronews reported that he was described internally as "reliable and organisationally strong" (translation). His earlier career is set out on the sheets for his time as Parliamentary State Secretary in the transport ministry from 2018 to 2021 and as First Parliamentary Manager.

Bellevue Palace, 29 July 2026

Under the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, Germany's constitution) federal ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Federal President on the Chancellor's proposal. At Bellevue Palace Steinmeier handed certificates of dismissal to Frei, Warken and Schnieder, and certificates of appointment to Warken (as Federal Minister for Special Tasks and head of the Chancellery), Linnemann (Health) and Bilger (Transport). According to ZDF, Steinmeier called the renewal of infrastructure „eine Herkulesaufgabe" ("a Herculean task", translation) that needs "time and persistence".

Bilger's first public line as minister, reported by ZDF, was: Wir brauchen einen pragmatischen, realistischen Blick auf die Verkehrspolitik. ("We need a pragmatic, realistic view of transport policy", translation.) To the Stuttgarter Zeitung he warned the next day that improvements would take time: Es wird nicht gelingen, dass von heute auf morgen alles gut ist. ("It won't be possible for everything to be fine overnight", translation.)