EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) new legislative director shouted at fellow Republican legislative directors during their weekly meeting on Monday, echoing comments his boss had just tweeted, three sources tell the Washington Examiner.
Ryan Neuhaus, who took over his new role on Monday, began yelling at others in attendance at the first of two weekly meetings for legislative directors that the bipartisan border deal backed by much of Senate GOP leadership was a “betrayal.”
Aides in the room described Neuhaus’s behavior as “awkward” and “disrespectful,” with one noting that he “didn’t read the room.” They also alleged that Neuhaus used talking points provided by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a lead negotiator on the bill, to make his points. Two legislative directors seated near Neuhaus heard another aide tell him to “chill out.”
Those same sources described Neuhaus as “mousy” and “quiet” in the second weekly meeting later Monday.
Neuhaus didn’t deny the outburst when reached by the Washington Examiner.
“Leadership was trying to sell a bad border bill, and I called them out on it. It looks like a growing number of GOP senators agree that it is lousy legislation,” Neuhaus said of his behavior.
Billy Gribbin, Lee’s communications director, said in a statement that “conservatives won’t surrender on securing America’s border. Not to Joe Biden, and not to this fake, flawed border bill.”
The outburst came at the same time that Gribbin began yelling at Aly Beley, the communications director for Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), as she delivered a presentation on her boss’s border agreement during a weekly GOP communications meeting, four attendees at the meeting told the Washington Examiner.
Gribbin began shouting about the contents of the bill and the process by which it was put together as a few tried to calm him down, with one meeting attendee urging Gribbin not to “make this personal.” Several of Gribbin’s colleagues, including communications directors for two conservative senators, stepped in to defend him, with one speaking up to say they were not “trying to make this personal.”
The dispute ended with Gribbin leaving the room while shouting the word “betrayal,” prompting applause from some of his more conservative colleagues.
Lee has been frequently using the word “betrayal” to describe the border deal since Senate appropriators unveiled legislative text on Sunday evening on the $118 billion legislation.
He has also launched a website entitled KillTheBorderBill.com as part of his efforts to oppose the legislation. It is unclear, however, if the site does anything besides fundraise for the senator through WinRed, the GOP’s online fundraising conduit.
A Lee campaign spokesman did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the new site.
Tensions were mounting ahead of the meetings over an email that Kate Noyes, communications director for Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY), forwarded to attendees on Sunday evening. Noyes wrote in the email that she was sending the message “on behalf of Team Lankford,” which staffers for more conservative senators took as her making a conferencewide endorsement of the bill.
Noyes told the Washington Examiner in a statement it was not an endorsement, saying, “The Conference routinely sends out background materials on member initiatives.”
Senate appropriators released the legislative text after four months of negotiations between a bipartisan trio of members and the White House on a border security deal that would unlock assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
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Detractors on both sides of the aisle were quick to attack negotiators and the bill’s contents, while House GOP leadership vowed that the deal would die in their chamber.
The bill has also caused a strain among the Senate Republican Conference, especially with hard-line conservatives like Gribbin’s boss. Lee has gone as far as to call for Senate Republicans to oust and replace current GOP leadership over their embrace of this supplemental.
