DIE NADL AND THE DAMAGE DONE:

Sasse has long been a frequent critic of the way the Senate does business, calling it a "performative" body where there's no real debate. When senators take to the floor to speak, the C-SPAN cameras never pull back to show that the rest of the chamber is completely empty. No lawmakers are listening.

Sasse said he's also troubled by today's political polarization, with the major parties increasingly controlled by people on the left who think an ever-bigger government can solve all the nation's problems and those on the right who believe a "strongman" is the answer.

"Like we literally ran a guy for president who said, 'I alone can fix it' -- one of the most anti-conservative statements a human can possibly make about the role of the state," Sasse said.

Of course, Sasse was referring to Trump, with whom Sasse had a complicated relationship from the start.

Sasse never endorsed Trump when he first ran in 2016. In fact, both times Trump was on the ballot, Sasse says he wrote in the name of Trump running mate Mike Pence instead.

While Trump and Sasse often agreed on policy, Sasse also was one of few Republicans in Washington willing to publicly criticize the president.

Sasse particularly expressed concerns about Trump's authoritarian streak. The grievance politics Trump and his supporters espoused also didn't fit with Sasse's view of conservatism.

"The reason you believe in conservatism is because we're grateful for all that we've inherited," Sasse said.

Sasse did vote with Trump 85% of the time, though Sasse says that was due to the fact they were simply in policy agreement, not a reflection of some kind of loyalty to the president.

"I'm gonna flip it on you and say he supported my policies," Sasse said. "I felt the same way since before he was in public life."

Arguably the most consequential votes Sasse took in the Senate were those to confirm Trump's three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. Sasse last week revealed the personal role he played in the battles to confirm Trump nominees Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Right after Trump was elected, it was still unclear whether the political maverick many conservatives still didn't trust would follow through on his pledge to appoint reliable conservatives to the court.

So Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked Sasse to join the Judiciary Committee to advocate for staunch conservatives. Sasse was not an attorney, but he had deep interest in constitutional law.

Said Sasse: "Mitch came to me and said, 'Listen, we don't know if Trump's gonna keep his word on these judges. Why don't we put you on the Judiciary Committee, and if he doesn't do what he says he's gonna do, you can take (the nominees) down. ... And if he keeps his word, being the champion of a lot of these judges will be meaningful to people.' "

Sasse said he immediately became the "founding member of the Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court Fan Club." From the start, he frequently called Trump to lobby him to nominate her. He said he subsequently got to know Trump "quite well."

"One thing that's sort of lost on the public is he's actually quite funny when you spend time with him, and he would answer his phone and say, 'Ben, is this about that lady professor from Notre Dame again?'" Sasse recalled.

The third time around, Trump did nominate Barrett. And in contentious battles in the Senate, all three nominees were confirmed.

Also among Sasse's most consequential votes were the ones that followed Trump's two impeachment trials in the Senate.

In Trump's first trial, Sasse voted to acquit. Unlike many Republicans who argued Trump had done nothing wrong, Sasse said it was clear Trump had some personal motives when he held up military aid to Ukraine, because the president was seeking to get Ukraine's president to announce an investigation against his opponent, Joe Biden.

But Sasse noted the aid was ultimately paid without any political favor, and he also questioned the national political fallout that would result from removing a president just nine months before he stood for reelection.

After Trump subsequently lost that election, Sasse became one of congressional Republicans' most vocal critics of Trump's false claims of election fraud and his efforts to overturn his loss.

And then after Trump's efforts to cling to power sparked the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Sasse called Trump's actions that day "wicked." He ultimately joined just six other Republicans in Trump's second impeachment trial voting to convict.

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