DeSantis pushes state university system to look into former UF president Ben Sasse’s expenses

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is pushing his state’s university system to look into former University of Florida (UF) President Ben Sasse’s expenses in the wake of reporting from a student newspaper on the subject.

“We take the stewardship of state funds very seriously and have already been in discussions with leadership at the university and with the Board of Governors to look into the matter,” Bryan Griffin, a communications director for DeSantis, said in an emailed statement sent Thursday to The Hill.

The Florida Board of Governors “oversees the operation and management of the Florida public university system’s twelve institutions,” according to a webpage on the State University System of Florida’s website.

The Independent Florida Alligator, a University of Florida student newspaper, reported earlier this week that Sasse, a former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, drove up spending in his office by more than three times while president of the school. According to the Alligator, most of the increase in spending came from contracts with important consulting firms and well-paying roles for former Senate staff of his and Republican officials.

Last month, Sasse said he was planning to leave his role as the school’s president by the end of July, noting a health problem in his family.

“After extensive prayer and lots of family tears, I today asked UF Chair Mori Hosseini and our Board of Trustees to initiate a search for a new president of the university,” Sasse said in a post on the social platform X. “I need to step back for a time and focus more on the needs of my family while we rebuild more stable household systems.”

The Hill has reached out to the University of Florida and the Florida Board of Governors for comment.

The State University System of Florida told The Hill in an email that an audit was being conducted at the university.

“The State Auditor General’s office notified UF’s Chief Audit Executive that the scope of the audit will encompass Office of the President expenditures,” they wrote. “The Florida Board of Governors will await the final report.”

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