崇禎元年(1628)十一月會推閣臣，推舉十一人，禮部侍郎錢謙益入選，而禮部尚書溫體仁、侍郎周延儒未被推。崇禎帝懷疑廷臣結黨，對會推名單起疑，溫體仁揣知上意，乃發難攻訐被推之錢謙益，指其主持浙江鄉試時受賄，不應入選，周延儒亦因未被推，乃從中播弄，深入帝心，遂使錢謙益事件釀成軒然大波。結果崇禎帝將會推出之閣臣悉置不用，而錢謙益被認定為結黨禍首，革職聽劾。東林勢力遭受嚴重打擊，而東林內閣隨元老重臣韓爌之去職、李標之乞休而告瓦解。東林內閣瓦解後，崇禎帝即為周延儒、溫體仁先後包圍，兩人任首輔時間也最長。在內憂外患交迫、政局百孔千瘡之際，奸佞當道，終使崇禎帝步向困絕的亡國之途。

Qian Qianyi (1582-1664), an eminent scholar in the capacity of Vice Minister of Rites, was appointed as one of the eleven members of the Cabinet in the imperial court, to the exclusion of Wen Tiren (d. 1638), Minister of Rites, and Zhou Yanru (1588-1644), another Vice Minister of Rites, in 1628. Emperor Chongzhen (r. 1628-1644), with misgivings about factionalism in the imperial court, became suspicious of the legitimacy of those chosen minister. Wen Tiren then accused Qian Qianyi of accepting a bribery while administering the provincial civil service examination in Zhejiang. On the other hand, Zhou Yanru further stirred up a commotion. This incurred Emperor Chongzhen to disqualify those chosen ministers and dismissed Qian. The unanticipated episode not only dealt a heavy blow to the Donglin Party but also triggered the demise of its Cabinet in the Ming imperial court in 1629.