Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with metastatic stage four pancreatic cancer, calling the diagnosis a “death sentence.” Sasse, 53, shared the news in a lengthy post on X after speculation grew about his recent absence from public life.
“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Fox News reported.
Sasse described the disease in blunt terms while acknowledging the reality of his condition.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff, it’s a death sentence,” he wrote. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too, we all do.”
The former senator said he now has limited time remaining.
“I’ve got less time than I’d prefer,” Sasse wrote.
Despite the diagnosis, Sasse said his faith remains central as he approaches the Christmas season.
“As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come,” he wrote.
Sasse rejected what he described as superficial notions of hope.
“Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness, not hope in vague hallmark sappy spirituality, not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength,” he wrote.
He added that optimism alone is not sufficient in moments of profound loss.
“To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient,” Sasse wrote.
Sasse described the emotional toll of confronting mortality on his family.
“It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle,” he wrote. “Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.”
Sasse said his hope is rooted in his Christian belief in redemption beyond death.
“Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment,” he wrote.
He acknowledged the suffering still ahead.
“The eternal city, with foundations and without cancer, is not yet,” Sasse wrote.
Sasse served in the U.S. Senate from 2015 through 2023 before becoming president of the University of Florida.
He stepped down from that role last year, citing his wife’s health challenges.
“My wife Melissa’s recent epilepsy diagnosis and a new batch of memory issues have been hard, but we’re facing it together,” Sasse said at the time.
