'I feel sorry for him': Ex-Republican lawmaker says Trump just 'kneecapped' Mike Johnson

Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) unloaded on congressional Republicans on Friday for creating what he described as a "holy mess" by following X owner Elon Musk's orders and tanking a bipartisan deal to keep the federal government from shutting down.

Appearing on MSNBC on Friday, Dent expressed bewilderment at Republicans who said that they don't need to bother negotiating with Democrats to fund the government.

"My head is about to explode," Dent exclaimed. "The congresswoman said that Republicans will do this on their own. They will not. Simple fact, there are not 218 House Republican votes to pass a continuing resolution or a debt ceiling. Therefore, they will need Hakeem Jeffries and a lot of Democrats to vote for this."

Dent also said that, even if the GOP got its hardliners on board for a deal, any such deal would be dead on arrival in the Senate.

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"It is a holy mess right now," he said. "Somebody should call the United States Senate. They have been quiet. The House sometimes forgets there is a Senate and they will need 60 votes to pass what the House does. If the House does not get its act together, Chuck Schumer... will get something to take back to the House."

He also expressed outright pity for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who crafted a bipartisan deal with Democrats but was kneecapped" when that effort got blown up this week by X owner Elon Musk.

"I feel sorry for him," he said. "He does not have 218 votes and is in a terrible bind and this could affect his ability to become speaker. The reason we are in this mess to begin with, because the hardliners and Donald Trump wanted to kick the appropriations process into the new year, they got their wish, which is crazy because they should've finished the appropriations bills in December."

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