Nebraska’s Sen. Ben Sasse is sole finalist to become University of Florida president

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is the sole finalist to become the president of the University of Florida, the school said Thursday, and the Republican has indicated that he will take the job. That means he could resign in coming weeks.

The school said in a statement that its presidential search committee had unanimously recommended Sasse as the only finalist, a decision that will have to be voted on by the school’s board of trustees and then confirmed by the board of governors.

The school said he will visit the campus Oct. 10 to meet with students, faculty and other members of the university community.

In a statement released by the school, Sasse said he is “thrilled about the opportunity to work alongside one of the nation’s most outstanding faculties.”

Sasse is a second-term U.S. senator who has been a sometime-critic of former President Trump. He was one of seven Republican senators to vote for Trump’s impeachment after the
Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

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Nebraska Republicans reprimanded Sasse but stopped short of censuring him after the Senate impeachment trial.

The state GOP’s Central Committee passed a resolution in February expressing “deep disappointment and sadness” about Sasse’s approach to his work in the Senate.

The state party urged him to represent “the people of Nebraska to Washington and not Washington to the people of Nebraska.”

At the time, Sasse brushed off the criticism from his party and noted his conservative voting record in the Senate.

He said Nebraska party activists were “hacked off” that he condemned Trump’s statements to a crowd just before the riot at the Capitol.

After voting to convict Trump, Sasse said he had “promised to speak out when a president — even of my own party — exceeds his or her powers.”

“I cannot go back on my word, and Congress cannot lower our standards on such a grave matter, simply because it is politically convenient,” he said. “I must vote to convict.”

In March 2016, the Nebraska GOP’s Central Committee censured him for his criticism of then-candidate Trump.

In 2019, Sasse toned down his criticism of Trump when he was running for reelection against a pro-Trump primary challenger. Trump later endorsed Sasse, saying he had done a “wonderful job” representing Nebraska. But a year later, he called on Republicans to replace Sasse after he criticized him again.

Midland University, where Sasse previously served as president, is a small university in Fremont, Neb., that has just over 1,600 students.

Sasse, who has degrees from Harvard and Yale, worked in the Justice Department and as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.