Overview

• Yasmin Fahimi says the government is fixated on cuts during economic stagnation, warns of social division, and argues alleged mass abuse is overstated, citing about 0.6 percent “total refusers.”
• Under the coalition deal, Bürgergeld would be renamed Grundsicherung for roughly 5.5 million people, with faster 30 percent cuts and the option to suspend all payments, including housing, after repeated no‑shows.
• Fahimi threatens large-scale labor action against what she calls a neoliberal course, saying unions will escalate workplace mobilization if employers and policymakers do not change direction.
• Verdi, IG Metall and social groups denounce the plan as a rollback toward Hartz IV, and critics flag constitutional risks to harsher sanctions that could trigger legal challenges.
• SPD leaders defend the shift but face internal pushback from figures such as the Jusos and former MP Robin Mesarosch, while officials signal a draft bill this year and an implementation push targeting early to spring 2026.