Overview

• CDU/CSU leaders refuse to enter talks with The Left ahead of Friday’s Bundestag vote to fill three seats on the Federal Constitutional Court.
• Internal opposition to SPD nominee Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf over her past stances on vaccine mandates and abortion rights deepens divisions within the Union bloc.
• Union, SPD and Greens would be seven votes short of a two-thirds majority if all 630 deputies participate, highlighting the need for external support.
• The AfD parliamentary leadership has advised its members to back only the Union’s Spinner candidacy, not the SPD’s nominees.
• Recent reforms empower the Bundesrat to appoint judges if the Bundestag vote fails, prompting calls for a unified majority to avoid a fallback scenario.