Ben Sasse Becomes 'GOP Trump Critic' Ahead of 2020 Elections
Axios reported on Sunday that Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) has become a “GOP Trump critic” ahead of the 2020 elections.
Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Finance Committees, released a statement after President Donald Trump issued executive orders granting Americans a payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance after negotiations with leading Democrats fell through.
Referring to Trump’s executive orders as “unconstitutional slop,” Sasse said in a statement on Saturday:
The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop. President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA, and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the American people acting through their members of Congress.
Axios’ Mike Allen wrote that some Republicans, including Sasse, believe that the president will likely lose reelection in November and therefore are creating space between them and the president.
“Sasse also won his May primary, further freeing him,” he noted.
Sasse also criticized the president for clearing out protesters in Lafayette Park by the White House.
“I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop,” he said in June.
Sasse sharply rebuked the president over reports that the Russian government issued bounties to Talian-linked militias to attack American troops in Afghanistan.
He said, “Number one, who knew what when? Did the commander in chief know and, if not, how the hell not? What is going on in our process?”
The Nebraska Republican also attacked Trump’s plan to withdraw troops from Germany, saying, “Chairman Xi and Vladimir Putin are reckless — and this withdrawal will only embolden them.”
And regarding a report that Trump might withdraw troops from South Korea, Sasse said, “This kind of strategic incompetence is Jimmy Carter-level weak.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.