The Republican party is "cancerous" to both its own members and the entire country, Carl Bernstein said on Wednesday's Morning Joe.
“The Republican party today has become a rabid organization from the top down. The leadership, it's cancerous,” said the veteran journalist. "This is a terrible moment in our history. The full faith and credit of the United States, our reputation abroad, our stability--our national security--has been in danger."
"The moral issue is allowing the United States, the very fabric of our being, our governmental system, our finances, to be absolutely obliterated," he added.
The country has endured 16 days of a government closure since it began Oct. 1.
Congress as a whole is becoming the enemy of the country's destiny, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland said on Wednesday.
“We have, sadly, and it pains me to say this, a Republican party at war with itself. It basically has suspended government, it has suspended democracy, it has suspended almost any kind of order, and they don’t know what they want,” he said. “And the sad part about this is the American people suffer.”
The American people want leaders to join together and pass legislation that both keeps the government open and pays debts, Cummings said.
The Senate can “hopefully today” reach a deal “that we can live with,” the representative said. But then the question still remains of how the House will resolve the situation.
“I think the John Boehner that I know,” he added, “would not allow [the country to default].”
Watch more on Morning Joe: