Fed-up Senate Republican may trigger explosive vote to rein in Trump

Sen. Lisa Murkowski may throw down the gauntlet, taking aim squarely at the Trump administration's Iran war, according to a report.

The Alaska Republican, fed up with being kept in the dark on combat operations, is quietly drafting legislation that would force Congress to take a potentially explosive vote on whether to formally authorize using military force against Iran, The New York Times reported Thursday. Such a move signals deep fractures within GOP ranks just months before midterms.

"Ms. Murkowski described the move on Thursday as an act of desperation to try to put some parameters around the operation as the Trump administration refuses to provide answers to Congress about its objectives, cost and timeline, and has boxed lawmakers out of its decision-making on the conflict," the Times wrote.

The news comes as polls show the unpopular conflict is a political liability, yet Republicans have largely circled the wagons to block Democratic efforts to curtail presidential war powers. An authorization vote would force lawmakers to go on record and explicitly endorse the war.

“We should have a better handle on where we’re going with this,” she said.

“This president came into office saying he was going to be the peace president,” Murkowski added. “How many times has he said, ‘We don’t like these long wars, these never-ending wars?’ People are asking me, ‘Is that what we’re moving into?’ And I can’t honestly tell them the answer, because I don’t know that answer.” Murkowski confessed.

Trump notably campaigned as the "peace president" who would end the country's history of endless wars.

Congress heads into recess Friday, meaning any vote would come after they return.