Asmussen's term at the ECB was scheduled to run until 2019. However, he resigned from his post to join German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government in December 2013, saying he wanted to spend more time with his partner and two young children in Berlin. At the time, he was mentioned in the media as a possible finance minister if the SPD had managed to grasp control of the ministry from incumbent Wolfgang Schäuble in the negotiations on a coalition government following the 2013 elections.