GOP Sen. Ben Sasse Resigning from Senate
This is a new report released on Thursday indicating that Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska is resigning his seat so that he can pursue a new career in higher education.
According to a story by Politico, Sasse is likely to accept the presidency of the University of Florida, this is according to two sources.
Not long after that story broke, the University of Florida announced that Sasse was the lone finalist in its search for a new president. And Sen. Sasse confirmed that report in a retweet from his official account with a statement.
“The University of Florida is uniquely positioned to lead this country through an era of disruption,” read the tweet. “I’m delighted to be in conversation with the leadership of this special community about how we might together build a vision for UF to be the nation’s most-dynamic, bold, future-oriented university.”
There was also an interview with the National Review on Thursday afternoon that said the deal with Sasse had not been finalized.
“Nebraskans have well understood that I didn’t expect to be in politics as a lifelong calling. I need to get back to building stuff,” Sasse explained. “The best picture in the dome of the U.S. Capitol is Washington surrendering power.”
If Sasse does resign his seat, the governor of Nebraska would appoint his replacement. Sen. Sasse has been one of the strongest voices in the Republican party against former President Trump. He was one of the seven who voted to impeach Trump on the charge of inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The university’s presidential search committee dealt with more than 700 leaders and whittled the number down to about a dozen highly qualified candidates. They settled on Sasse who is in his second term in the U.S. Senate and is 50 years old.
He spoke about the university in an interview Thursday, “Along the way I came to see the University of Florida as the most interesting university in the country,” Sasse said. “It’s the most important institution in the state with the most dynamic economy in the union.”Many Trump supporters are already celebrating the news that he was leaving the Senate.
