Mitch McConnell says impeachment 'ought to be rare' and is 'not good for the country' as House GOP lurches toward Biden inquiry

House Republicans appear increasingly likely to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is bemoaning the increased use of the measure.

"Impeachment ought to be rare," said the top Republican. "This is not good for the country."

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As House Republicans appear increasingly likely to pursue an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, one top Republican appears unenthused: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In an interview with the New York Times, McConnell weighed in on the subject of impeachment for the first time publicly since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy began teasing the prospect last month.

"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," said McConnell.

While he did not comment on the specifics of the potential impeachment probe, he criticized the increased use of the practice.

"Impeachment ought to be rare," said McConnell. "This is not good for the country."

As they've teased a potential impeachment inquiry, House Republicans have zeroed in on unproven allegations that both Biden and his son, Hunter, accepted millions in bribes from a Ukrainian gas company. They are also looking into Hunter Biden's business dealings more broadly, hoping to turn up evidence that those activities substantively involved then-Vice President Biden or affected US policy.

McConnell, the Senate Republican leader since 2007, opposed both the first and second impeachments of former President Donald Trump.

But during the second impeachment trial in February 2021, even as he argued that it was unconstitutional to convict Trump since he had already left office, he said Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" of January 6, 2021.

And he even noted at the time that Trump could be held criminally liable down the line.

"We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation," he said at the time. "Former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one."

Last week, Trump was indicted on four counts by the Department of Justice for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.