Catherine Pégard, former president of the Palace of Versailles and Élysée culture advisor, was appointed culture minister on Thursday, February 26, 2026, succeeding Rachida Dati who leaves the government for her Paris municipal campaign. This reshuffle includes several other appointments, marking a technical adjustment within Sébastien Lecornu's government. With one year until the presidential election, these changes occur in a context of relative stability.
On February 26, 2026, the Élysée announced the appointment of Catherine Pégard, aged 71, as culture minister, replacing Rachida Dati. The latter, in office since January 11, 2024, resigned on February 25 to focus on the March 15 and 22 municipal elections in Paris, where she is running for mayor. Pégard, a former journalist who served in Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet from 2007 to 2011, led the Palace of Versailles for twelve and a half years before becoming Emmanuel Macron's culture advisor.
This reshuffle, described as a «technical adjustment» by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, bears the mark of the Élysée. Among the other appointments is Sabrina Roubache, 49, returning as junior minister for Vocational Education and Training and Apprenticeship. She was previously junior minister for Citizenship and Urban Affairs from July 2023 to September 2024 and lost her seat in the snap legislative elections in her Marseille constituency, where she withdrew in the second round against the Rassemblement National.
Maud Bregeon is appointed junior minister for Energy, while retaining her role as government spokesperson since September 2024. MP Camille Galliard-Minier takes the position of junior minister for Autonomy and Disabled Persons, replacing Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq. Finally, Les Républicains MP Jean-Didier Berger becomes minister attached to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.
Amélie de Montchalin has been appointed to head the Cour des comptes and replaced at Public Accounts by David Amiel. The government now has 36 members, with no junior minister for the Civil Service for now. Pégard inherits sensitive files, such as Louvre management after the Crown Jewels theft last October, budget cuts in museums, and public audiovisual reform. Rachida Dati, who prioritized the «Culture and Rurality» plan with numerous trips to small towns, leaves a record marked by announcements but few concrete achievements, according to sources.
