Cancer-Stricken Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse Vows To Avoid Being A ‘Pansy A**’ As Life Slips Away

Despite being diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, former Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse has not given up on living, telling the host of a New York Times podcast Thursday that he intends to face the unknown awaiting him with hope and clarity.

The 54-year-old married father of three announced in a Dec. 23, 2025, post to X that he received a “death sentence”: his metastasized affliction — diagnosed in 64,000 Americans annually — has a five-year relative survival rate of approximately 3.2%, according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine article.

“Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all,” he wrote. “Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad.”

Friends-

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.

Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence.…

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 23, 2025

Having learned of his condition just weeks before Christmas, Sasse, a Reformed Lutheran–Calvinist, framed his announcement in terms of making peace with his life’s turn. He acknowledged the seriousness of his situation during “a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.”

“To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient,” he continued. “It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle, nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.  A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff.”

Sasse, his face bloodied and peeling without healing — reportedly side effects of his medication — nevertheless interspersed his frank reflection when speaking with Ross Douthat, the conservative host of the “Interesting Times” podcast, with humor and openness.

“I did not decide to die in public. I obviously ended up with a calling to die. In mid-December I got a three- to four-month life expectancy, and I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas,” he began. “But even at three to four months left to live, you have to redeem the time. There’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children,” he added, referencing how the former lawmaker has been “doing a lot of talking,” such as hosting his “Not Dead Yet” podcast and speaking with a number of journalists and interviewers about his situation. Before his diagnosis, Sasse had been training for triathlons to stay fit before prolonged intense back pain prompted him to seek medical attention. Full-body scans soon determined he had “five forms of cancer: lymphoma, vascular, lung cancer, bad liver cancer, and pancreatic, where it originated.”

“‘Here’s a hard fact: Ben Sasse’s torso is chock-full of tumors,’” Sasse recalled his doctor breaking the news to him. “I was like, ‘OK, you came in with the real stuff.’ So, I have pancreatic cancer — Stage 4, already metastasized. They told me right away on Day 1, ‘This is not operable, you’re way post-surgical.’”

Sasse had been living in Florida — “Nebraska’s emotional home” — but resides in Austin, Texas to participate in his targeted clinical trial in Houston twice weekly.

Sasse takes daraxonrasib, a “nasty” drug by Revolution Medicines, orally, rather than as an injection. “It causes crazy stuff like my body can’t grow skin, and so I bleed all out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn’t be bleeding,” he said.

“Yeah, you look terrible,” Douthat observed.

“Thank you,” he responded before describing how his hospice doctor prepared him to face his symptoms. “‘When you’re dying of an abdominal disease, you’ve got an algorithm that’s managing four variables: You have tumor-driven pain, you have cancer- and treatment-driven nausea, you’re managing a diarrhea-to-constipation continuum, and you’ve got energy and fatigue.’”

Sasse also reflected on his Christian faith, saying he was not angry at God for apparently not answering prayers for healing. “I don’t know what the weaving together of the tapestry of full redemption should look like,” he said, “but I know going through the period of suffering that [what] I’m going through is a benefit because it is a winnowing.” He went on to express gratitude for the blessings of his life and the value of his waning days on earth.

“This suffering is not salvific, but it’s sanctifying, and I’m grateful for it,” Sasse noted. He also described his cancer as a “stake against my delusional self-idolatry” in temptations of his soul to sinfully exhibit pride. He then went on to identify the meaningful hope of his life:

I was incredibly blessed to be quickly at peace. I kept hearing the Pauline phrase, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”

Death is terrible. We should never sugarcoat it. It is not how things are meant to be. But it is great that death can be called the final enemy. It’s an enemy, but it’s a final enemy, and there will then be no more tears.

I believe in the Resurrection, and I believe in a restoration of this world. So, I did not feel great fear about my death. I didn’t want the pain I was going through. I didn’t want to be a pansy ass in the final moments.

When asked if he was ready to die, Sasse expressed that he did not feel so, but that he had no choice but to embrace the ultimate end Jesus Christ offers in Scripture.

“He says, ‘You can’t keep the children from me.’ And we’re told that we get to approach the Almighty, we get to approach the divine and call him, ‘Daddy,’ ‘Abba,’ ‘Father?’ That’s pretty glorious. And I know that that’s what I need,” Sasse concluded, prompting a visibly moved Douthat to draw the interview to a close.

After previously working in the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services, Sasse was elected Nebraska’s junior senator in November 2014, joining Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. While representing the Cornhusker State in Congress, Sasse advocated for overhauling the Affordable Care Act. He supported and pushed for the disclosure of foreign influence in lobbying and introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. At times clashing with populist factions of the GOP, he earned a career-high 87% lifetime score (with the average Senate Republican scoring 78%) from the conservative Heritage Action.

I’m very sorry to hear this Ben. May God bless you and your family.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 23, 2025

So very saddened to hear the news about Ben Sasse this morning. I know he will face this difficult challenge anchored in his strong Christian faith and bolstered by the love of family and friends. Ben, I am keeping you and your loved ones in my prayers. https://t.co/6c5uoIXSSB

— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) December 23, 2025

“Something on the order of 60 times, my state party convened or county parties in Nebraska convened to condemn me for not being Trumpy or whatever,” he reflected.

While he voted to acquit President Donald Trump during the 2019-2020 Democrat-led impeachment effort over the president’s dealings with Ukraine, Sasse joined six other Republican senators in voting to convict him over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol Riot. Sasse also notably criticized Trump over his apparent character, as well as rhetoric about white supremacists, election integrity, fiscal actions, treatment of women, and foreign policy. (RELATED: ‘Politics Isn’t About The Worship Of One Dude’: Sasse Says As He Faces Censure Attempt For Criticizing Trump)

Sasse stepped down from his Senate seat Jan. 8, 2023, to become the president of the University of Florida; citing his wife’s health, he later resigned from that position effective July 31, 2024. He previously served as the president of Nebraska’s Midland Lutheran College from December 2010 to December 2014.

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