Former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, 53, revealed he was diagnosed last week with metastatic, stage‑four pancreatic cancer. Known for his criticism of Donald Trump and for voting to convict after Jan. 6, Sasse resigned from the Senate in 2023 and briefly served as president of the University of Florida. He says he will fight the disease and pointed to recent advances in immunotherapy as a source of hope. Sasse and his wife have three children.
Ben Sasse Reveals He’s Been Diagnosed With Metastatic, Stage‑Four Pancreatic Cancer
FILE - Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., walks the halls of the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Former Nebraska U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, 53, announced on social media that he has been diagnosed with metastatic, stage‑four pancreatic cancer. Sasse said he learned of the diagnosis last week and framed the news with a mixture of realism and resolve.
Sasse, a conservative best known for criticizing political tribalism and for his repeated public rebukes of former President Donald Trump, served in the U.S. Senate from 2015 until his resignation in 2023. He was among seven Republican senators who voted to convict Mr. Trump during the impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
After leaving the Senate, Sasse became the 13th president of the University of Florida following a contentious confirmation process; he stepped down from that post the following year after his wife received a diagnosis of epilepsy. He has degrees from Harvard, St. John’s College and Yale, and previously worked at the Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush administration and served as president of Midland University in Nebraska.
“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase. Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage‑four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse wrote. “I’m not going down without a fight. One sub‑part of God’s grace is found in the jaw‑dropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived.”
Sasse emphasized his intention to pursue treatment and expressed hope in recent advances in immunotherapy and other cancer therapies. He and his wife have three children.
The announcement sparked an outpouring of public reaction across political lines, with supporters and critics alike sending messages of sympathy and support. Sasse’s frank tone and focus on medical advances have highlighted both the personal and public dimensions of a diagnosis that remains one of the most serious forms of cancer.
