'Buckle up and get ready': Ex-GOP lawmaker says mass layoffs put Republicans in 'defensive position'
Image via Screengrab / MSNBC.
With the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeting a wide range of federal government agencies for mass layoffs, Democrats are sounding the alarm and warning that vital functions like air safety and disaster preparedness are in danger. But this warning isn't coming from Democrats exclusively.
Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) is attacking the layoffs as "haphazard" and reckless. And during a Friday morning, February 21 appearance on MSNBC, the Pennsylvania Republican warned that the Trump/DOGE layoffs are putting GOP lawmakers in a politically difficult position — even in conservative districts.
MSNBC host Ana Cabrera asked Dent, "if you're a GOP lawmaker right now, getting an earful from your constituents, what do you do?"
The ex-congressman responded, "Well, I would tell them to look back at the tape from 2017 during the health care town halls when many Republicans were being hammered at the time of the Obamacare repeal/replace movement. And that's what it feels like now that Republicans realize that they are in a very defensive position — that what Musk and Trump are doing through DOGE is having real consequences across the country. And many of these Republicans now are forced into a position: Do they side with Donald Trump, or do they side with the constituents in their districts, you know, who lost their jobs?"
Dent continued, "And so, this is a really tough moment. But this feels so much like 2017, I can't begin to tell you."
According to Dent, the Trump/DOGE layoffs are so unpopular that even some U.S. House districts that Republicans won by double digits "are going to be competitive in the 2026 midterm."
Dent told Cabrera, "So, some of these folks who think they're safe right now, and (are) in very, very safe Trump districts, are going to find out they're not that safe. And that's what we saw in the 2018 midterm. If I were Republican, I'd buckle up and get ready…. I think smart Republicans realize that they are in a very delicate position."
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