Germany's coalition government is expected to make a decision about the successor of Defence Minister Karl- Theodor zu Guttenberg on Wednesday morning, political sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
Guttenberg resigned on Tuesday, after he became embroiled in a plagiarism scandal over his doctoral thesis.
The minister had come under increasing political pressure following revelations that more than 100 pages of his 475-page doctoral thesis had been copied from other works without citation.
A major cabinet reshuffle is not expected, as a successor will likely be sought from the ranks of Guttenberg's Bavaria-only Christian Social Union or within Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, its sister party.
Merkel and her coalition allies had been expected to nominate a new defence minister by Friday. Guttenberg officially remains in office until a successor is appointed.