Knives out for Mitch McConnell over border bill: Republicans start calls to kick him OUT of leadership and accuse him of a 'bromance' with Democrats on package that's a 'betrayal' of American people --Sen. Mike Lee called it a 'disqualifying betrayal' after bipartisan negotiations --Donald Trump called it a 'Death Wish' for the Republican Party | 5 Feb 2024 | The bipartisan border deal that is dividing congressional Republicans is already leading to angry calls to shake up the Senate leadership and furious claims by Donald Trump that it represents a "death wish" for the party in 2024. The fury came in the hours since negotiators put out details on their new bipartisan deal to provide new authority for the administration to "close" the border when crossings spike, while [also insanely] sending billions to Ukraine and Israel. Among those to heap the most scorn on the agreement was Utah Sen. Mike Lee -- who even appeared to demand a change in his party's leadership after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell helped oversee the deal with Majority Leader Sen. Charles Schumer. "This feels like an elaborate practical joke. But it’s not funny. Not one bit. I cannot understand how any Republican would think this was a good idea--or anything other than an unmitigated disaster. WE NEED NEW LEADERSHIP -- NOW," he wrote on X. "Senate leadership screwed this up -- and screwed us," he wrote in another post. Even while refusing to let us see the bill they claimed to be negotiating on our behalf -- for MONTHS -- they were never in doubt, insisting we’d be dumb and even unpatriotic NOT to support it. This is a disqualifying betrayal."