His seclusion from Syrian politics ended after the Military Committee of the Ba'ath Party took power in a coup d'état on 8 March 1963. The Military Committee's stated goal was to reestablish a pan-Arab state; a goal Atrash shared. He was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in Salah al-Din al-Bitar's first government, and became a member of the Presidential Council, an organ responsible for running day-to-day state affairs. In February 1964 Atrash was elected to the 12-member Ba'ath Party National Command, which was nominally the highest policy-making body of the party.