Karl-Josef Laumann started his political career at the Junge Union in the district of
Steinfurt, as an honorary chairman, a position he still holds. Since 1974 he has been a member of the CDU and since 1977, a member of the
Christian Democratic Employees' Association (CDA). Since 2005, he has been National Chairman of the CDA. For several years, Laumann has been active in the Catholic Workers Movement (KAB). In April 1998, he was appointed chairman of the KAB for North Münsterland. From 1990 until 28 June 2005, Laumann was a member of the
Bundestag.
State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, 2013–2017 In the negotiations to form a
Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian
CSU) and the SPD following the
2013 federal elections, Laumann was part of the CDU delegation in the working group on health policy, led by
Jens Spahn and
Karl Lauterbach. He was subsequently appointed State Secretary in the
Federal Ministry of Health under the leadership of minister
Hermann Gröhe in the
third government of
Chancellor Angela Merkel. In this capacity, he also served as the Federal Government's Commissioner for Patients' Affairs. Laumann was a CDU delegate to the
Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the
President of Germany in
2017.
State Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, 2017–present Following the
2017 state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Laumann was part of the CDU team in the negotiations with
Christian Lindner’s
FDP on a coalition agreement. He led his party's delegation in the working group on economic affairs and energy policy; his co-chair of the FDP was
Johannes Vogel. Since July 2017, Laumann has been serving as State Minister for Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs in the government of
Minister-President Armin Laschet. As one of his state's representatives at the
Bundesrat, he serves on the Committee on Labour, Integration and Social Policy, the Committee on Health and the Committee on Family and Senior Citizen Affairs. In the negotiations to form a
fourth coalition government under Merkel following the
2017 federal elections, Laumann led the working group on social affairs, alongside
Barbara Stamm and
Andrea Nahles. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’
leadership election in 2018, he publicly endorsed
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed Merkel as the party's chair. ==Other activities==