Impeachment article has 200 cosponsors: US rep.
The draft, citing "incitement of insurrection," could be introduced Monday.
President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 11 days.
Top headlines:
- Rep. Cicilline: 'Just passed 200 cosponsors' on article of impeachment
- GOP Rep. Kinzinger: Best thing for the country is Trump to resign
- Pence to attend Biden's inauguration: Source
- Senate Democrat says Cruz, Hawley should resign or 'the Senate must expel them'
- Trump asked Georgia election investigator to 'find the fraud': Source
Biden calls Capitol chaos 'one of the darkest days' in US history
Before introducing his Justice Department picks from Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, Biden offered comments on Wednesday's chaos at the Capitol which he deemed "one of the darkest days in the history of our nation" and "an unprecedented assault on our democracy."
"All of us here grieve the loss of life, grieve the desecration of the people's house. But what we witnessed yesterday was not dissent. It was not disorder. It was not protests. It was chaos," Biden said. "They weren't protesters. Don't dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists."
Biden placed blame on Trump who, he said, for the past four years has "made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law clear in everything he has done."
"He unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of our democracy from the outset. And yesterday was but the culmination of that unrelenting attack," Biden said.
Biden also predicted the response would have been very different had the majority of rioters been Black.
"No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, there wouldn't have been -- they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true, and it is unacceptable, totally unacceptable," he said.
Pelosi calls for removal of Trump from office
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office for his "seditious acts" following Wednesday's rioting at the Capitol, she said at a press conference Thursday.
The California Democrat is threatening impeachment proceedings if Pence does not.
-ABC News' Mariam Khan
McConnell calls for 'painstaking investigation'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a statement Thursday, saying the riots within the Capitol Building Wednesday represent "a massive failure" of "institutions, protocols, and planning that are supposed to protect the first branch of our federal government."
"A painstaking investigation and thorough review must now take place and significant changes must follow," McConnell added. "Initial bipartisan discussions have already begun among committees of oversight and Congressional Leadership."
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin
First Cabinet secretary resigning over Capitol violence
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is resigning from her position in the wake of rioting at the U.S. Capitol.
She cites the storming of the Capitol by "supporters of the President" as an "entirely avoidable event" in a letter she is sending out to her colleagues announcing her resignation.
"Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside," Chao said.
Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
White House flag lowered to half-staff in honor of Capitol police officers who died
Three days after Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died defending the Capitol against insurrectionists the White House lowered the U.S. flag to half-staff.
The decision to lower the flags came hours after Capitol Police also announced the off-duty death of Officer Howard Liebengood. The circumstances of his death have not been made public.
The U.S. attorney's office in Washington opened a federal murder investigation into the death of Sicknick, who died Thursday night after suffering injuries in the violent siege on Capitol Hill, three law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News.
The investigation is being conducted jointly between the FBI and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, with cooperation from U.S. Capitol Police.
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement that the Department of Justice "will spare no resources in investigating and holding accountable those responsible."
-ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas