Nancy Pelosi raised the possibility of impeaching Donald Trump for a second time unless he resigns immediately, as she revealed that she had spoken to the US military about preventing an “unstable president” from launching a nuclear strike.

“If the president does not leave office soon and willingly, Congress will go with our work,” the House Speaker wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats on Friday, as Trump came under fire after a violent mob. His supporters swept through the U.S. Capitol earlier this week.

Pelosi also revealed that she has spoken to General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss precautions to prevent Mr. Trump “from commencing military hostilities or accessing the launch codes” needed to launch a nuclear strike.

She added, “The situation of this dysfunctional president could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything in our power to protect the American people from its unbalanced attack on our country and our democracy.”

General Millie’s spokesman, David Butler, confirmed the call. House Speaker Pelosi started a call with the President. He answered her questions regarding the Nuclear Command Authority operation.

The call between Pelosi and General Milly took place as Democrats debated how to proceed with efforts to impeach Trump, after the likelihood of his removal from office by protesting the 25th Amendment appeared to have receded.

Pelosi said in her letter that there was “increased momentum around the protest of the 25th Amendment,” which would allow Mike Pence, Vice President, and a majority of cabinet members to remove Trump from the White House.

I think the president has ignored the office oath. What he did was evil

But she said Mr. Pence refused to discuss protesting the amendment and opened prospects for impeaching the president if the vice president continues to boycott.

Earlier Friday, Katherine Clark, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts and a member of the Pelosi team, told CNN that House Democrats “will go ahead with impeachment … early in the middle of next week.”

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, made it clear that he would not support impeachment of Trump, arguing in a statement that doing so “with only 12 days remaining in his tenure would only divide our country further.”

On Friday, President-elect Joe Biden distanced himself from calls for the 25th amendment or impeachment of Trump and said he remained focused on taking the oath on Jan.20.

He added, “If we have left for six months, we must do everything to remove him from office, try him again, and try to invoke the 25th amendment, no matter what it takes to remove him from his position. But I am now focused on taking over the reins … on the 20th.”

These efforts to impeach the president come despite Mr. Trump Waiver For the first time on Thursday evening, Biden becomes president of the United States later this month.

Amid a number of resignations from the White House and mounting pressure from fellow Republicans, the president suddenly changed his tone in a short video in which he accused violent protesters of “desecrating the seat of American democracy” and said those who break the law “will pay.”

But by Friday morning, the president had returned to Twitter – which he had been banned from briefly in the wake of the Capitol attack – saying, “The 75,000,000 Great American Patriots who voted for me, America first, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT again, will have a vote. A tall giant to come. They will not be disdained or unfairly treated in any way, shape or form !!! ”

Breaking tradition, Trump said he would not attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

Biden said it was “fine” that Mr. Trump not attend his inauguration, adding that the president’s decision to walk away was “one of the few things that he and I agreed on.” He said he would welcome Mr. Pence there if he chose to attend.

Mr Trump was put on trial in December 2019, when the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, related to the president’s overtures to the Ukrainian president to dig for dirt on Biden and his son Hunter. The president was later acquitted in a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.

While the Democrats held out in the House of Representatives after the November elections with a diminished majority, they will likely have enough votes to impeach Trump a second time.

That increases the pressure on Republicans in the Senate, and they are On the verge of losing control From the upper house after two races in Georgia earlier this week, where Democrats Raphael Warnock and John Usoff ousted incumbent Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue.

Two-thirds of the Senate will need to vote to convict Mr. Trump in order to remove him from office. However, there will be little time for a trial before Mr. Biden takes office.

Mitt Romney, a senator from Utah, was the only Republican to emerge from the ranks during the Trump impeachment trial, and voted to indict the president for abuse of power. But after the events of Wednesday, there were some signs that sentiment within the president’s party was shifting.

Bensasi, a Republican senator from Nebraska, told CBS News Friday morning that he would “definitely consider” any articles to impeach the Democrats.

“I think the president has ignored the oath,” Mr. Sassi added. “What he did was evil.”

Trump addressed crowds of supporters in the Washington Mall hours before they stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday, saying, “We will never give up. We will never give up.”

The violent clashes in the Capitol building killed five people, including A. US Capitol Police Officer. Pelosi said Friday that she had ordered the flags at the Capitol to be moved to half-mast in honor of Officer Brian Secnick, who was trying to fend off the rioters.

Mr. Trump initially responded to the siege on Wednesday by telling his supporters: “We love you, you are so special … I know how you feel, but go home and go in peace.”

Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, and Ellen Chau, the transportation secretary, were among the president’s administration who resigned less than two weeks before Biden’s inauguration.

Their resignations cast doubt on whether the 25th Amendment could be implemented, given that a majority of the president’s government would need to support his impeachment.

Co-reporting by Katrina Manson in Washington