Government crisis: Do dual ministers also receive double salaries?

After Christian Lindner was dismissed as finance minister, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger also resigned from their positions. Since Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to remain in office but has announced his resignation from the party, the FDP is no longer represented in the federal government.

The succession was quickly arranged: the SPD man and Scholz confidant Jörg Kukies was appointed as the new finance minister (you can read a portrait here). Wissing will also take over the office of Justice Minister, while the Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir will take over the education department. This means that there are two dual ministers in the cabinet in the Scholz government.

No, explains Elke Gurlit, professor of constitutional and administrative law at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz star-Inquiry. The basic rule is that there should not be two official salaries. According to the Federal Ministers Act, official salaries, local allowances and compensation for service expenses are only paid once for a federal minister, regardless of the department.

The layout of the ministries lies within the organizational power of the Federal Chancellor, explains Gurlit. In addition to a defense minister, only a finance minister and a justice minister are constitutionally required. Therefore, the latter positions had to be filled and appointed by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. According to the lawyer, the Ministry of Education could have left Scholz vacant. That was probably the reason why Özdemir von Steinmeier, unlike Volker Wissing, did not receive a second certificate of appointment and was not listed with the dual role on Thursday. He took over the new tasks on a provisional basis without a certificate.

Yes, just like the division of departments, according to the lawyer, the transfer of several business areas to one person is also within the scope of the Federal Chancellor’s organizational authority. By the way, the Chancellor himself can also take on a ministry in addition to his office as head of government. Konrad Adenauer, for example, was also Foreign Minister from 1951 to 1955. In September 1982, Helmut Schmidt also briefly held the office of Foreign Minister in addition to his Chancellorship. At that time, his government also fell apart after all FDP ministers resigned. Two weeks later, Schmidt’s chancellorship ended after a vote of no confidence in the Bundestag.