Sardinia trip during parliamentary sitting week

Former CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn faced renewed internal criticism after missing parliamentary obligations during a sitting week in Berlin. The 46-year-old lawmaker was absent from plenary sessions and the Bundestag Budget Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, officially attributing his absence to family obligations and a sick child. Tensions mounted when German tabloid Bild published a photograph showing Spahn alongside his husband and infant son at Olbia airport on the Italian island of Sardinia. Bild deleted the article and the image shortly after publication, stating in a correction notice that the photograph originated in a private setting and violated the publication's internal editorial rules. Spahn's spokesperson later stated that he had arranged formal representation for the committee session in accordance with standard parliamentary procedures and attended the remaining sitting days of the week.

Crisis meeting inside the budget working group

The publication of the airport photograph caused immediate friction within the conservative parliamentary group, where lawmakers discovered the report while attending a budget session in Berlin. It marked the second committee session Spahn had missed, having previously excused himself due to his child falling ill. The 14-member CDU/CSU budget working group convened an extraordinary meeting on Friday afternoon to address his conduct. Multiple German media outlets reported that a majority of the working group's members demanded Spahn's expulsion from the influential budget panel, arguing that the incident compromised his credibility. Spahn attended the 30-minute confrontation to explain his actions and asked colleagues for a final chance. Committee working group chairman Christian Haase declined to provide details about the internal debate.

“I do not want to comment on internal working group questions.”

Compromise and probationary period

To prevent a public confrontation, parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei and First Parliamentary Secretary Catarina dos Santos stepped in during the Friday discussions. Frei brokered a compromise granting Spahn a probationary period until the end of December 2026. Under the arrangement, Spahn remains on the Budget Committee as it conducts key negotiations on the 2027 federal budget, provided he maintains regular attendance. Group leadership argued that the working group itself lacked the formal authority to remove members, as committee assignments remain under the jurisdiction of broader parliamentary bodies. However, several conservative lawmakers criticized the outcome as unwarranted leniency, questioning whether senior politicians received preferential treatment compared to regular members.

Political fallout following the surrogacy controversy

The dispute follows Spahn's resignation as CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in late July 2026. He stepped down from the leadership role after disclosing that he and his husband had fathered a child using a surrogate mother in the United States. Commercial and altruistic surrogacy remains illegal under German law, and the CDU/CSU political platform strongly supports maintaining the existing prohibition. Parliamentary leadership subsequently assigned Spahn to the Budget Committee in early September 2026, an appointment that had already generated skepticism among some conservative parliamentarians. In discussions across parliamentary corridors and messaging groups, lawmakers pointed out that Spahn had previously enforced strict attendance discipline on colleagues while serving as group leader, intensifying reactions to his absence.