Mitch McConnell insists he won't bend Senate rules to stop vote on Trump impeachment

Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn't offer any assurances to President Donald Trump that he would try to block impeachment from reaching the U.S. Senate.

The Kentucky Republican appeared Monday morning on CNBC, where he admitted that Senate rules would require a trial if the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president.

"Well, under the Senate rules we are required to take it up," McConnell said, "if the House goes down that path, and we will follow the Senate rules."

McConnell, who has previously delighted in flouting rules and bending norms to thwart the Democrats, signaled that he was unpersuaded by arguments that the Constitution does not require a Senate trial if the House votes to impeach.

"It is a Senate rule related to impeachment that would take 67 votes to change," he said. "I would have no choice but to take it up. How long you're on it is a whole different matter, but I would have no choice but to take it up, based on a Senate rule on impeachment."