MACRON SHUFFLES CABINET AMID EARLY SCANDAL

French President Emmanuel Macron brought several little-known figures into his government Wednesday as part of a reshuffle after corruption scandals started tarnishing his young cabinet.

Macron had planned to rearrange the government after his centrist party won a majority in parliamentary elections Sunday. He was forced to make more changes than expected because four ministers facing investigations announced this week they would step down.

Macron’s office announced Wednesday that Florence Parly, a former executive and budget official, would become the new defence minister after the previous defence chief, Sylvie Goulard, the highest ranking woman in the five-week-old government, stepped down.

Macron also named Nicole Belloubet, a member of the constitutional Court, as justice minister after her predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was forced to quit earlier in the day.

Bayrou announced his resignation following allegations of misuse of European Parliament funds by the centrist party he founded, the Modem. His departure means Modem has lost all three cabinet posts it had in Macron’s government, following the departures of Goulard and Marielle de Sarnez, the minister for European affairs.