DRAIN THE SWAMP: Congress Unloads on Pro-Iran Deal Forces in Trump Administration.

Leading Republican senators are uniting against what they describe as a bid by some elements of the Trump administration to keep the Iran nuclear deal on life support via a package of waivers exempting Tehran and its allies from new sanctions spearheaded by President Donald Trump, according to multiple conversations with top congressional officials both on and off the record.

A debate has been raging inside the Trump administration for months over how far it will go to sanction the Iranian regime. While President Donald Trump has promised a “maximum pressure” campaign to choke off Tehran’s resources, the State and Treasury Departments have advocated in favor of waivers permitting Iran to continue sensitive nuclear work as well as its lucrative oil trade.

The debate has split certain elements of the Trump administration and will come to a head in the coming weeks as a series of sanctions waivers permitting eight countries to continue purchasing Iranian crude oil is set to expire in May.

Already, some elements of the administration are pushing to issue another round of sanctions waivers, prompting outrage on Capitol Hill where multiple officials stand ready to fight that potential decision.

If they can’t get on board with their boss’s policy, they need to be shown the door. It’s gotten so bad that when I remember that line in Star Wars about that “wretched hive of scum and villainy,” I picture the State Department building.