
Bärbel Bas resigned as minister of labor and social affairs and co-chair of the SPD, citing the death of her stepdaughter and public attacks.
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Bärbel Bas served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and was co-chair of the SPD.
German Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Bärbel Bas announced her resignation from this position as well as from the position of co-chair of the SPD on Monday.
The reason given was, among others: the death of his stepdaughter. "I realized that I needed time to mourn," she said in a statement published on Monday.
She also cited public attacks against her as the reason, including from representatives of the Christian Democratic bloc CDU/CSU, with which the social democratic SPD forms a government coalition.
She limited her public activity
Bärbel Bas has limited its public activity in recent weeks. At the beginning of October, her ministry announced the cancellation of all planned meetings of the minister due to the death of a member of her immediate family. No details were provided at the time.
Her resignation comes at a time of tension between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats over social policy reforms. CDU/CSU politicians criticized Bas, among others. for the pace of implementation of changes in the social benefits system.
The 58-year-old social democrat was the president of the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, and from May 2025 she headed the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

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