Christian Wolfgang Lindner is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as the Federal Minister of Finance from 8 December 2021 to 7 November 2024. On 6 November 2024,
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz proposed in a press release to remove Lindner from his position as the Federal Minister of Finance. Under Art. 64 §1 of the Grundgesetz, only the president, that being Steinmeier since March 2017, is permitted to appoint and remove ministers. Scholz’s reasoning being that a joined coalition proved impossible. Lindner’s official certificate of dismissal was given to him at the Bellevue Palace on November 7th, where his successor Jörg Kukies has been appointed as the new Federal Minister of Finance. Lindner has been the party leader of the FDP since 2013 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) for North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, previously holding a seat from 2009 until 2012.