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Volker Kauder
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Volker Kauder
Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German Bundestag from 2005 to 2018, during which he was frequently referred to as the "right hand" of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Kauder was born in Hoffenheim. A student of the Hegau-Gymnasium in Singen, he became a member of Junge Union in the age of 17. In 1991, he became Secretary General of Baden-Württemberg CDU and subsequently served as the party's campaign manager for the state elections in 1992, 1996 and 2001. He served in this office until the resignation of party chairman Erwin Teufel in 2005.
A trained lawyer, Kauder has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 1990 elections, representing the town of Rottweil in southwestern Germany (Rottweil – Tuttlingen). In parliament, he first served on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs. Between 1998 and 2002, he led the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from Baden-Württemberg. In this capacity, he publicly endorsed Edmund Stoiber as the joint CDU/CSU candidate for the 2002 national elections.
Kauder later served as First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2002 until 2005, under the leadership of the group's then-chairwoman Angela Merkel.
In early 2005, Merkel nominated Kauder as Secretary General of the CDU, after his predecessor Laurenz Meyer was forced to quit over payments he had received from his past employment with RWE, the power company. Ahead of the 2005 federal elections, he became Merkel's confidante and campaign coordinator while spearheading CDU proposals to increase VAT by 2 per cent to fund non-wage labour cost-cutting.
Following his party's victory in the elections, Kauder was elected chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag. He led the group with changing co-chairs from the CSU, Peter Ramsauer (2005–09), Hans-Peter Friedrich (2009–11), Gerda Hasselfeldt (2011-2018), and Alexander Dobrindt (2017-2018). Since 2005, he has served on the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, Kauder was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel.
In a surprising vote among members of the CDU/CSU group in September 2018, Kauder was ousted after 13 years as chair. His deputy Ralph Brinkhaus received 125 votes to Kauder's 112 in a secret ballot.
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Volker Kauder
Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German Bundestag from 2005 to 2018, during which he was frequently referred to as the "right hand" of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Kauder was born in Hoffenheim. A student of the Hegau-Gymnasium in Singen, he became a member of Junge Union in the age of 17. In 1991, he became Secretary General of Baden-Württemberg CDU and subsequently served as the party's campaign manager for the state elections in 1992, 1996 and 2001. He served in this office until the resignation of party chairman Erwin Teufel in 2005.
A trained lawyer, Kauder has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 1990 elections, representing the town of Rottweil in southwestern Germany (Rottweil – Tuttlingen). In parliament, he first served on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs. Between 1998 and 2002, he led the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from Baden-Württemberg. In this capacity, he publicly endorsed Edmund Stoiber as the joint CDU/CSU candidate for the 2002 national elections.
Kauder later served as First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2002 until 2005, under the leadership of the group's then-chairwoman Angela Merkel.
In early 2005, Merkel nominated Kauder as Secretary General of the CDU, after his predecessor Laurenz Meyer was forced to quit over payments he had received from his past employment with RWE, the power company. Ahead of the 2005 federal elections, he became Merkel's confidante and campaign coordinator while spearheading CDU proposals to increase VAT by 2 per cent to fund non-wage labour cost-cutting.
Following his party's victory in the elections, Kauder was elected chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag. He led the group with changing co-chairs from the CSU, Peter Ramsauer (2005–09), Hans-Peter Friedrich (2009–11), Gerda Hasselfeldt (2011-2018), and Alexander Dobrindt (2017-2018). Since 2005, he has served on the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, Kauder was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel.
In a surprising vote among members of the CDU/CSU group in September 2018, Kauder was ousted after 13 years as chair. His deputy Ralph Brinkhaus received 125 votes to Kauder's 112 in a secret ballot.
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