Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse expected to resign
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is expected to retire from the U.S. Senate this year to accept a position as University of Florida president.
Sasse has represented Nebraska in the Senate since 2014, winning elections in 2014 and 2020. During both elections, Sasse won all 93 Nebraska counties and earned over 60% of the vote. His position in the Senate was his first involvement in politics. He previously served as president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska.
Sasse gained national attention as a conservative Republican who consistently opposed Donald Trump. He voted to acquit during Trump’s first impeachment trial in February 2020, but was one of the one of the seven Republicans senators who voted to convict Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial in February 2021. Following that action, the Nebraska GOP’s State Central Committee passed a resolution rebuking Sasse’s performance as a senator.
During his time in office, he served on the intelligence, judiciary, finance, and budget committees. Union has had a longstanding relationship with Sasse, with Union students interning at his Lincoln office for the past six semesters.
Sasse has been unanimously recommended by the University of Florida’s search committee and will be formally interviewed by the board of trustees on November 1. A vote by the board of trustees and board of governors still needs to take place to formalize the process.
Sasse states on his website that, “as an opponent of perpetual incumbency, he has no intention of spending his life in the Senate.” He was not expected to run for reelection in 2026, but his announcement was met with both surprise and criticism as he will not finish his term.
In a statement on Twitter, he said, “UF is the most important institution in the nation's most economically dynamic state. Washington partisanship isn’t going to solve these workforce challenges — new institutions and entrepreneurial communities are going to have to spearhead this work ... I’m delighted to be in conversation with the leadership of this special community.”
Sasse’s temporary replacement will be appointed by Nebraska’s governor. The replacement will fill the seat until January 2025. Then, the results of a special election in 2024 will determine who holds the office for the final two years of the term.
The replacement will likely be chosen by current governor, Pete Ricketts, but under Nebraska law the governor has 45 days to fill a Senate vacancy. With Ricketts leaving office in January, there is a possibility of Ricketts’ successor appointing the replacement, which could be Ricketts himself. Other potential candidates for the position are former Nebraska governor Kay Orr
and Republicans Mike Flood and Don Bacon who are currently representing the 1st and 2nd Congressional districts of Nebraska in the House of Representatives.
By: Aubrey Benton