Republican Sen. Ben Sasse (Nebraska) has made it very clear he is no fan of President Donald Trump, having said in October, “What the heck were any of us thinking, that selling a TV-obsessed, narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea?”

Indeed.

Now he’s really angry that Trump has pardoned a raft of shady political allies, including his former campaign chair Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. So he’s put the president on blast, describing the move as “rotten to the core.”

That’s exactly what he had to say in a brief statement Wednesday evening, keeping it short and not particularly sweet.

“This is rotten to the core,” he said. Well, he’s not wrong. It is rotten.

He also said “felons like Manafort and Stone” had “flagrantly and repeatedly violated the law and harmed Americans.” And The Hill reports he was one of the first GOP senators to bash the pardons, and there’s a good chance more may follow suit.

Trump also pardoned Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father. He pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion and retaliating against a witness in 2004 and served two years in prison.

For former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who prosecuted Kushner at the time, the situation was unpleasant and he characterized the crimes as some of the most “loathsome” he had ever dealt with.

Rep. Adam Schiff (California), the lead Democratic prosecutor during Trump’s impeachment trial, described Manafort’s pardon as outrageous.

“During the Mueller investigation, Trump’s lawyer floated a pardon to Manafort,” Schiff noted in a tweet Wednesday. “Manafort withdrew his cooperation with prosecutors, lied, was convicted, and then Trump praised him for not ‘ratting.’ Trump’s pardon now completes the corrupt scheme. Lawless to the bitter end.”

During the Mueller investigation, Trump’s lawyer floated a pardon to Manafort.

Manafort withdrew his cooperation with prosecutors, lied, was convicted, and then Trump praised him for not “ratting.”

Trump’s pardon now completes the corrupt scheme.

Lawless until the bitter end.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 24, 2020

A few other Senate Republicans are also cautioning Trump to evade any scandals regarding pardons. This includes Susan Collins (R-Maine) who said earlier this month that the president should follow the recommendations of the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.

“In general, I think presidents ought to take the advice of the pardon office that is within the Department of Justice,” she said. “But the president’s pardon ability is very broad.”

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), seemed to concur.

“I think pardons should be used very judiciously,” he said.

But Trump’s pardons have been injudicious, to say the least, and debate will surely follow as to whether the president’s expansive constitutional power over federal sentences perhaps should be reexamined.

Writing for The Atlantic, Paul Rosenzweig, a former prosecutor during the Whitewater investigation into former President Bill Clinton, noted that one of our former founding fathers, George Mason, apparently understood that future presidents might use pardons to the benefit of their political allies or accomplices. He contended the president “ought to not have the power of pardoning, because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself.”

“It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish, a monarchy, and destroy the republic,” Mason wrote. “If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent defection?”

Wise words. Fortunately, Trump didn’t get to do this. Maybe it is time to hem in those powers.