Silberhorn first became a member of the Bundestag in the
2002 German federal election. He has served on the Committee on European Affairs (2002-2013); the Subcommittee on Foreign Trade (2005-2009); and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2009-2013). In addition to his committee assignments, he is a member of the German-Japanese Parliamentary Friendship Group. In the negotiations to form a
coalition government of the Christian Democrats (CSU together with the
CDU) and the
FDP following the
2009 federal elections, Silberhorn was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense, Europe and development policy, led by
Franz Josef Jung and
Werner Hoyer. In the negotiations to form a
Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats and the
Social Democrats (SPD) following the
2013 federal elections, Silberhorn was part of the
CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on
bank regulation and the
Eurozone, led by
Herbert Reul and
Martin Schulz. In the
third cabinet of
Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 to 2017, Silberhorn served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development under minister
Gerd Müller. In the negotiations to form another
coalition government under Merkel's leadership following the
2017 federal elections, Silberhorn was part of the working group on foreign policy, led by
Ursula von der Leyen, Gerd Müller and
Sigmar Gabriel. From 2018 until 2021, Silberhorn served (alongside
Peter Tauber) as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries at the
Federal Ministry of Defence under successive ministers Ursula von der Leyen (2018–2019) and
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (2019–2021). In 2019, Silberhorn co-chaired the CSU’s convention in Munich, alongside
Markus Blume and
Florian Hahn. Since the
2021 elections, Silberhorn has been serving as his parliamentary group’s spokesperson for Transatlantic relations. In the negotiations to form a
Grand Coalition between the Christian Democrats (
CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) under the leadership of
Friedrich Merz and the
Social Democratic Party (SPD) following the
2025 German elections, Silberhorn was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on education, research and innovation policy, led by
Karin Prien,
Katrin Staffler and
Oliver Kaczmarek. == Other activities ==