Ben Sasse Makes It Official, Leaves Senate
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., officially resigned from the Senate on Sunday to become the next president of the University of Florida.
Sasse, who previously led Midland University, a small private college in Fremont, Nebraska, submitted his resignation last month saying he would leave office at noon on Jan. 8.
Last week, the outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump delivered farewell remarks in the Senate chamber, in which he observed that the institution “doesn’t work very well right now.”
“Each of us knows we should be taking a look in the mirror and acknowledging that lives lived in a politicized echo chamber are unworthy of a place that calls itself a deliberative body, let alone the world’s greatest deliberative body,” he said.
Sasse also took aim at the polarized and polarizing media landscape, saying that, “When we’re being honest with each other, which usually means when, on one of the very rare occasions cameras aren’t present, we all know that a big chunk of the performative yelling that happens here and in every hearing room is just about being booked for even more performative yelling at night on TV,” he said.
Sasse’s replacement will be appointed by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican.
The previous governor, Republican Pete Ricketts, has said he’s interested in the job.
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