In an initially expected technical reshuffle after the parliamentary election win, judicial inquiries that haunted some of his ministers forced Macron to appoint left-wing law expert Nicole Balloubet as justice minister to replace centrist Francois Bayrou who made a decision to not take part in the new executive staff to have "freedom of speech" to defend his group's " honor" amid the party's fake job allegations.
Another key MoDem figure, Defence Minister Sylvie Goulard, announced on Tuesday she was resigning because she could not remain in the cabinet with a potential investigation hanging over the party.
Nicolas Hulot maintained his post at the ecology ministry, and Gerard Collomb was re-appointed to manage the country's interior affairs. At the time, Bayrou appeared to have won the stand-off, gaining several high-profile jobs, including his own at the justice ministry.
All MoDem members that were originally appointed to the cabinet by Macron after his ascension to the Elysee Palace have since resigned.
The departures came as Macron's prime minister, Edouard Philippe, prepared to announce a mini reshuffle after the legislative results.
Bayrou - a Macron ally since backing his presidential bid in February - was quickly followed out of the exit door by MoDem's third minister.
Goulard's departure left Bayrou, who was piloting Macron's so-called morality law through parliament, in an increasingly untenable position.
On Wednesday, the source told Reuters that Bayrou was also quitting and would not be part of the next cabinet that Macron is due to announce later in the day.
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Mr Bayrou's centrist party MoDem has now lost all three posts in Mr Macron's cabinet within 24 hours.
While Bayrou and de Sarnez have not commented yet, Goulard on June 21 said she was leaving because of the investigation, into whether MoDem used European Union parliament funds to finance jobs carried out by party officials in France. Mr Bayrou and Ms De Sarnez told the French press on Wednesday that they are leaving the government to allow Mr Macron to push his goal of cleaning up politics.
After winning the presidential election in May, Macron crafted a first government that comprised ministers of the left, right and centre, breaking with convention as he extended his support base.
Richard Ferrand has also stood down as minister for territorial cohesion to lead the group of politicians elected under the banner of Mr Macron's party at the National Assembly.
Like the ex-defense minister, Bayrou and de Sarnez could become subjects of investigations over the use of parliamentary assistants who were improperly paid.
Mr Macron, elected as president on May 7, has promised to clean up the French political scene, which has been peppered with corruption.
Macron's reshuffle, tapping more people from the non-political world, reflects the profile of many of his newly elected members of parliament.
The presidential election saw Macron's conservative rival Francois Fillon engulfed in a separate scandal over accusations that he paid his wife and children hundreds of thousands of euros as his parliamentary assistants with little evidence that they did any such work.



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