Friedrich Merz has led a CDU/CSU-SPD coalition as German chancellor since May 2025, but his position faces sustained pressure from the CDU’s sharp losses in September 2026 state elections, including the party’s first failure to clear the 5 percent threshold in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and defeats in Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin amid AfD gains. National approval ratings have fallen to record lows, with roughly one in ten voters satisfied. The October 12 resignation of SPD co-chair and labor minister Bärbel Bas, citing personal reasons and coalition attacks, has heightened coalition tensions and delayed reforms on taxes, pensions, and bureaucracy. Merz has secured interim CDU backing to remain in office and advance the agenda, yet upcoming party meetings and the SPD’s year-end conference could test stability ahead of the scheduled 2029 federal vote.