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Watch a defeated Bob Corker question on the Senate floor if the Republican Party 'has lost its soul'

Republican Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) questioned if the GOP "has lost its soul" during grave comments Thursday ahead of a vote on the $1.3 trillion budget bill. "For the Republican Party to have the presidency, and for the Republican Party to have the Senate, the Republican Party to have the House of Representatives, and for us to be passing a bill today — obviously it couldn't happen without us, we control the agenda here — for us to be in a situation where we're getting ready to pass a bill that adds $2 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years … does have to be a wakeup call to people as to whether that's the case," he said.

Corker added: "[If] we had a Democratic president and [Republicans] controlled the House and Senate, I can't imagine us being in a situation where we would vote tonight or tomorrow for a bill that's going to add $2 trillion in debt without offsets. Matter of fact, I can just tell you, that would not be the case." Watch his sobering speech on the Senate floor below. Jeva Lange