Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled he is not among those supportive of impeaching White House officials after three GOP members of the House drafted articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden in June.
In comments provided to the New York Times, McConnell said, "Impeachment ought to be rare," adding, "This is not good for the country."
The articles of impeachment were drafted by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, who accused President Biden of two charges: abuse of power and dereliction of duty. The articles of impeachment allege President Biden abused his power by "pursuing an aggressive, open-borders agenda by purposefully and knowingly releasing more than 2,000,000 illegal aliens into the interior of the United States." The articles also claim President Biden engaged in dereliction of duty by allegedly failing to enforce the nation's immigration laws and secure the southern border.
Some House Republicans have suggested also impeaching other members of the Biden administration.
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McConnell, who was a Senate colleague of Biden's from 1985 until 2009, sees it differently.
"I said two years ago, when we had not one but two impeachments, that once we go down this path it incentivizes the other side to do the same thing," McConnell told the New York Times.
McConnell was also leading Senate Republicans during both of President Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings. In both instances, McConnell voted against impeaching Trump. However in Trump's second impeachment, seven Republicans voted to convict Trump.
While McConnell did not vote to convict Trump for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, he blasted Trump from the Senate floor, blaming Trump for the riot. McConnell cited his no vote with the belief that the Senate lacked jurisdiction for voting against convicting Trump. Trump had just left office by the time the Senate voted, however a conviction would have precluded Trump from becoming president again.
"Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty," McConnell said in February 2021. "There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president."
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