Sen. Corker: GOP in 'Bad Place' Over Shutdown, but Getting Better

Sen. Bob Corker says the government shutdown hasn't turned out well for Republicans politically, but they're beginning to pull things together.

"Look, we're in a bad place," the Tennessee Republican acknowledged Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

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"Let's face it, we all know the House Republican strategy — and that came from a few Senate Republicans — was the strategy [to tie the defunding of Obamacare to a temporary spending measure] that took us to where we are."

But Corker declined to take a direct shot at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the GOP leaders of the defunding movement.

"It is actually uncouth for one senator to pile on in that way," Corker said. But he added, "I will say we've ended up in the boxed canyon that I proclaimed we would end up in several months ago."

Corker said Republicans are on firmer ground now that the debate has shifted to budget cuts. He said Democrats have "overreached" in negotiations to end the two-week-old shutdown by seeking to bust the existing spending caps.

"You know this exercise. We've taken a little bit of a rabbit trail to a place that wasn't helpful, but I think we're back where we need to be," Corker said.

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