Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina forcefully condemned "domestic terrorists" who breached the Capitol Wednesday and said the events will "tarnish" the Trump presidency.

"A band of people who are terrorists -- not patriots -- literally occupied the floor of the house drove us out of this chamber and the question for the country is how could that happen 20 years after 9/11," Graham said to reporters at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon. "Yesterday they could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all."

Graham said he does not support invoking the 25th Amendment "right now" and is focused on peacefully moving through the next two weeks until Biden is sworn in.

Reflecting on his relationship with Trump, Graham said he does not regret supporting the president but believes Trump is frustrated and receiving bad guidance from some in his inner circle, adding that he "needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution."

"It breaks my heart that my friend, a president of consequence, would allow yesterday to happen and it will be a major part of his presidency," Graham said. "It was a self-inflicted wound."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Biden introduced his nominees to the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon with a message that his administration will restore the law enforcement agency's political independence, which he argued has been damaged during Trump’s tenure.

“I want to be clear to those who lead this department who you will serve: You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me. It is to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation to guarantee justice,” Biden told the group.

On his nomination of  D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland to serve as attorney general, Biden praised Garland's experience, character and bipartisan credentials, noting that it was “no surprise” that then-President Barack Obama once put his name forward to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Garland grew emotional when taking the podium, thanking his family with a quiver in his voice. He spoke about what drew him to the law, recalling the swearing in of former federal Judge Ed Leavy who said “our law is not an instrument of partisan purpose," and addressed Wednesday's chaos.

“As everyone who watched yesterday's events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyer's turn of phrase. It is the very foundation of our democracy," he said.

Garland committed, as Biden and Harris have, that the Department of Justice under his control would remain an independent entity.

Biden also introduced Lisa Monaco as his nominee for deputy attorney general, Vanita Gupta as his nominee for associate attorney general and Kristen Clarke as his nominee for assistant attorney general for the department's Civil Rights Division.

Before that, he squarely placed blame on Trump for Wednesday's events at the Capitol, calling the riots the "culmination" of Trump's "unrelenting attack" and "all-out assault on our institutions of democracy."

"They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. It's that basic. It's that simple. And I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming. But that isn't true," Biden said.

-ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle and Beatrice Peterson

Biden is expected to name Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as his pick to be the next secretary of commerce, sources familiar with the decision told ABC News on Thursday.

Raimondo, who was first elected governor in 2014 and chaired the Democratic Governors Association from December 2018 to December 2019, was one of the women under consideration to be Biden's running mate and was a potential choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

The governor, who has earned praise for her state's response to the coronavirus pandemic, is currently quarantining after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to her office, but that quarantine period is expected to end on Friday.

When officially announced, she will be the 10th woman picked to serve in Biden's Cabinet thus far.

-ABC News' Luke Barr, Molly Nagle and John Verhovek

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday, said she is calling for the resignation of the U.S. Capitol Police chief and that she has been advised that he will be submitting his resignation.

"There was a failure of leadership at the top of the Capitol Police," Pelosi said. "He hasn't even called us since this happened."

Separately, Pelosi said she has received the resignation of the House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, who oversees the Capitol Police.

Earlier in the press conference, Pelosi formally announced that she's backing calls for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. And if not, Pelosi said she's prepared to impeach him again, given the "overwhelming sentiment" among her Democratic colleagues

"While there are only 13 days left, any day could be a horror show for America," Pelosi said.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a new letter to Democrats on Saturday, asked members to prepare to return to Washington this week -- another signal that the House could take up and pass the impeachment article to the Senate after it is formally introduced on Monday.

Pelosi thanked fellow Democratic representatives for speaking with her on a conference call Friday and said she was taking their considerations into account. She did not specifically mention voting on impeachment in the letter, though.

"Since that call, I have received scores of communications from Members expressing your views about how we go forward and regarding a strong presence of our Caucus in the Capitol," she wrote. "Over the last few days, I have discussed your views with Constitutional lawyers, both inside and outside the Congress, to consider the parliamentary and constitutional options available to us."

"From what I have heard from Members, and from the deluge that I have received from the public, it is clear that, once again, the Times Have Found Us to save our democracy," Pelosi added in the letter. "We will be proceeding with meetings with Members and Constitutional experts and others. I continue to welcome your comments. I urge you to be prepared to return to Washington this week."

While Democrats are hopeful Republicans will back their effort, none have come out and said they would back the charge as drafted.

Pelosi said at a press conference on Thursday, "If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act [on the 25th Amendment], the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment."

Some Democrats planned to connect with Republican colleagues this weekend to gauge their support and encourage them to back the effort.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel