Ex-University of Florida President Ben Sasse Breaks Silence On Accusations of Excessive Spending: ‘It’s not true’

Former U.S. senator and University of Florida President Ben Sasse issued a lengthy response on Friday, addressing accusations that he channeled millions of university dollars to his GOP allies while serving in the leadership role.

In his 1,700-word response on X posted Friday, Sasse denied any inappropriate spending during his brief tenure as president.

"Many have asked whether it's true if UF over the last couple years had inappropriate spending. No, it's not true - but it is a duty to transparently address folks' concerns, both because fiscal stewardship is a fundamental obligation of public institutions," he wrote.

Sasse highlighted several projects initiated under his leadership, including the development of new institutions and campuses, the hiring of additional faculty, the creation of a data analytics unit to enhance student services and course scheduling, and the reform of the core curriculum.

"With each new initiative comes new staff - and new investment expenditures," Sasse said, while acknowledging that not all newly hired staff relocated to Florida. "I persuaded almost a dozen folks who had worked with me in one or more of my last three jobs, both in and out of politics, to join in this important work - as basically all arriving CEOs do."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for an investigation Thursday into Sasse's spending following reports from the Independent Florida Alligator, the university's student newspaper, that he hired his GOP allies into prominent positions and paid them unusually high salaries.

During his 17-month tenure as UF president, Sasse allegedly increased his office's spending to $17.3 million in his first year - more than triple the $5.6 million spent in the final year of his predecessor, Kent Fuchs.

New hires included Raymond Sass, a former Senate chief of staff, who was appointed UF's vice president for innovation and partnerships with a salary of $396,000; James Wegmann, a former Senate communications director, who took on the role of vice president of communications with a salary of $432,000; and Taylor Silva, a former Senate press secretary, who was named assistant vice president of presidential communications and public affairs with a salary of $232,000.

While he didn't address specific hires, Sasse noted, "Some of our new hires took pay cuts because they wanted to join this cause; others of them got pay raises because they are super-talented folks who had competing opportunities and offers."

Sasse ultimately welcomed an audit of the expenses but insisted his budget underwent the "appropriate approval process."

Sasse resigned from his leadership position last month to focus on his family following his wife's epilepsy diagnosis. The former Nebraska senator served as president for less than two years, and had said he plans to transition to a teaching and advisory role at the school.