Overview
- The Bundestag approved Heveling as president of the Bundesrechnungshof, with Bundesrat consent still pending.
- Heveling, 53, is a CDU lawyer and long‑time MP who has served as his caucus’s legal counsel and earlier worked for North Rhine‑Westphalia’s finance minister.
- The audit office in Bonn reviews whether ministries spend money lawfully and efficiently but cannot impose penalties, so the Bundestag’s budget committee must act on its findings.
- Auditors have flagged accounting maneuvers, opaque special funds, and waste since the pandemic, as credit authorizations rose by about €850 billion outside the regular budget.
- Outgoing president Kay Scheller leaves after 12 years and has warned of a loss of fiscal control, as the IW think tank projects federal debt near €3.2 trillion with roughly €80 billion a year in interest within five years.