Overview

• The parliamentary judicial selection committee nominated Sigrid Emmenegger with the required two-thirds majority, enabling a plenary vote on Thursday.
• Lawmakers will vote separately on three nominees: Emmenegger (SPD), Ann‑Katrin Kaufhold (SPD) and Günter Spinner (backed by the Union and proposed by the current court).
• Union and SPD lack a two‑thirds majority in the chamber and depend on support from Greens and potentially individual Left deputies, with the Left making it a conscience vote.
• The AfD publicly rejects Kaufhold and sought to remove the elections from the agenda, while describing Emmenegger as unproblematic and expressing no objection to Spinner.
• Union leaders signal confidence after internal briefings, with Jens Spahn and Steffen Bilger predicting success under the secret ballot rules that require a two-thirds tally for each candidate.