Former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) officially resigned from the Senate on Sunday after reports broke last year that the congressman would pursue higher education opportunities.

Sasse, who has served as senator for Nebraska since 2015, resigned after accepting a position to become president of the University of Florida, where he will reportedly earn a salary of $1 million.

The Republican politician delivered his farewell address from the Senate floor last week, saying that he never planned on spending a lifetime in Washington after eight years of public service.

“That’s not what our founders envisioned for the people they would send to the federal city,” Sasse said. “They envisioned, rather, congressmen, senators, and presidents who thought of D.C. as a temporary stay.”

“Washington is a place to do a good bit of neighbor-loving work, but then to go back home to the more permanent work of life and flesh and blood whole communities,” he added.

Sasse voted with six other Republican senators to convict former President Donald Trump after the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

Trump called the Nebraska senator “Little Ben Sasse” at a May rally in the congressman’s home state, adding Sasse became a “grandstanding, little-respected senator.”

During his farewell speech, Sasse acknowledged that his relationship with Nebraskans had some “marked ups and downs” over the last eight years, making him “the most censured public official in the history of Nebraska.”

“Many times, it felt like a noogie and a slap and a head butt and a hug all at once,” he said.

Shortly after news broke of Sasse’s forthcoming retirement, the senator revealed that he would become the next president at the University of Florida.

The university said in a statement that it had spent months carefully vetting hundreds of applicants for the role and that the school’s 15-member presidential search committee “unanimously recommended United States Senator Dr. Ben Sasse as the sole finalist.”

Former Nebraska Republican Governor Pete Ricketts announced last month he intends to seek his successor’s appointment to become the state’s next U.S. senator to replace Sasse.

“For me, it came down to a single question: How can I best serve the people of Nebraska and advance our conservative values?” Ricketts said in a statement via The Hill. “In Congress, we’re in a fight for the future of our nation, and it’s a fight we have to win. We must cut taxes, strengthen public safety and our national security, and protect our most sacred freedoms.”

“Over the last eight years, we’ve shown the world the real impact conservative leadership can have,” he added. “I want to continue delivering results for our state, fighting to reduce taxes, grow our economy, defend our liberties, and run government more like a business. I’ll never stop working to get the job done, and that’s why I’m asking for Governor-elect [Jim] Pillen’s consideration.”

Sasse, who won a second term in 2020, would have had to run for re-election again in 2026.

Adam Rich, best known for his role as Nicholas Bradford in the 1970s TV drama “Eight is Enough,” died Saturday at 54 years old, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

A family member of Rich told TMZ the actor died at his home in Los Angeles, where law enforcement told sources the former child actor was found lifeless by an unidentified person who arrived at the residence.

According to authorities, an official cause of death has not been revealed, but there is no foul play suspected.

NBC News reported Rich’s spokesman, Danny Deraney, described the actor as a “wonderful guy” who was “really America’s little brother.”

“He was kind, generous and a warrior in the fight against mental illness,” Deraney said. “He was so unselfish and always looked out for those he cared about. Which is why many people who grew up with him feel really sad today.”

Rich rose to fame in the 1970s while portraying Nicholas, the youngest son, on “Eight is Enough,” which ran on ABC from 1977-1981.

Dick Van Patten, who also starred in the TV drama as Rich’s father, said of his former co-star in a 2011 interview that Rich was the reason “why the show was a big success.”

“People loved him!” Van Patten said, according to Page Six. “[Fans] named a child Nicholas and everything because of him. He was cute, and he was a good actor. He was very natural.”

Rich would go on to land smaller roles in other television shows and assorted movies throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, which include “Fantasy Island,” “CHiPs,” “Small Wonder,” and credit as a voice actor on the animated series “Dungeons & Dragons.”

Before taking a ten-year hiatus from the screen and spotlight, Rich was last credited on an episode of “Baywatch” in 1993.

He re-emerged in 2003 to portray himself in the 2003 David Spade comedy “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.”

In the same year, he starred as Crocodile Dundee in the TV series “Reel Comedy.’’

According to TMZ, Rich reportedly struggled with substance abuse, which resulted in a 1991 arrest for breaking a pharmacy window to obtain drugs.

Van Patten later bailed him out.

Page Six noted that Rich spent the following years in and out of rehab.

Authorities arrested Rich again in 2002 on DUI charges after nearly hitting a California Highway Patrol vehicle.

Rich denied the charges to CBS News, telling reporters, “I’ve been sober for ten years.”