Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., on Monday rebuffed claims he asked for President Donald Trump's endorsement in his state's Republican primary, hours after Trump slammed him for questioning the president's use of executive orders to address the coronavirus pandemic.
"Mr. President – I understand that you're mad. A few thoughts," Sasse tweeted Monday, along with a screenshot of rebuttals to the president's tweets early Monday. "As we've discussed before, I don't think Twitter is the best place to do this. But, since you moved our conversation from private to public, here we are . . ."
"You also know I never asked for your endorsement, nor did I use it in the campaign," Sasse said, adding "none of my disagreements are personal," and "from our many conversations, even in the last few weeks — that I care about you personally and have tried to help you repeatedly, even on issues where our prudential judgements differ widely."
Trump on Sunday signed four relief measures in response to gridlock over additional COVID-19 legislation, including extending the expanded unemployment benefits Congress approved in March, deferring payroll taxes and extending rent and student loan payment assistance.
Sasse called the orders "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," Sasse said. "Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the American people acting through their members of Congress."
The president shot back at Sasse's initial criticism, calling the senator a "Republican in Name Only" or RINO.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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