section_path: Chancellor (2025–present)
section_name: Chancellor (2025–present)
paragraph_text: Chancellor (2025–present)
  
  On 6 May, when the first round of voting took place, Merz was not confirmed as the next chancellor when he unexpectedly failed to achieve an absolute majority in parliament with only 310 votes in favour of his leadership out of a required 316 out of 630 votes. It was the first time in German history a chancellor candidate did not receive the necessary votes in the first attempt. A second round of voting took place on the same day, resulting in him being elected as chancellor with 325 votes. Merz and his cabinet were sworn in on the same day of the voting.
  
  One of his first official acts was the restructuring of the ministries and the creation of a Ministry for Digital and State Modernization. On 7 May, he made his first foreign visit as Chancellor, meeting in France with President Emmanuel Macron and jointly announcing the creation of a Franco-German Defence and Security Council and afterwards meeting with Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, in Warsaw, emphasizing relations within the Weimar Triangle.