Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) on the recommendation of the chancellor; no parliamentary approval is needed. According to the Basic Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet, with 22 ministers, in the mid-1960s. Helmut Kohl presided over 17 ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994; the 2002 cabinet, the second of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, had 13 ministers, and the Angela Merkel cabinet as of 22 November 2005 had 15. Article 65 of the Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how the executive branch functions: Whenever
Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) is elected within this period, the "Bundestag" will hold a last ballot on the 15th day after the first ballot ("3rd voting phase"). If a candidate reaches the "chancellor majority", the President must appoint him or her. If not, the President may either appoint as Chancellor the candidate who received a plurality of votes (thus allowing the formation of a minority government) or call new elections for the "Bundestag" within 60 days. As all Chancellors have been elected on the first ballot, as yet (1949–2018) neither of these constitutional provisions has been applied. The Federal Chancellor is the only member