Ben Sasse on Senate's "smack-down nonsense" and his wish for America

Politics Ben Sasse on the Senate's "smack-down nonsense" and his wish for America By Joe Walsh Joe Walsh Senior Editor, Politics Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston. Read Full Bio Joe Walsh April 26, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Late last year, former Sen. Ben Sasse was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given three to four months to live. Now, he's on "extended time" — and he wants to spend some of his remaining time talking about "bigger stuff."In an interview with "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley and a town hall hosted by CBS News, the Nebraska Republican said Congress is consumed by "reductionistic tribalism" and isn't spending enough time on large-scale problems — especially the massive disruptions that he believes will be wrought by artificial intelligence.Sasse also explained why he believes he owes his extra time on earth to "providence, prayer and a miracle drug." And he argued more Americans should have access to the types of experimental treatments that he credits with extending his life."Congress is not wrestling with big or important questions"A Nebraska native with a Ph.D. in history from Yale University, Sasse ran for the Senate in 2014. He won reelection after clashing with President Trump, but then, two years later, Sasse resigned from Congress to become president of the University of Florida.Asked why he left elected office, Sasse called the Senate "very, very unproductive." He said he was in Washington, D.C., for much of the week, missing time with his wife and three kids in Nebraska, while lawmakers weren't accomplishing much."We didn't do real things. And it felt like the opportunity cost was really high," he said.Right now, Sasse told Pelley that "Congress doesn't talk about any of those kind of most fundamental issues," chief among them the way that AI could change the economy and how people work. "Ne...