In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Mike Pence said he would not invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president.

"I am grateful for the leadership that you and other congressional leaders provided in reconvening Congress to complete the people's business on the very same day. It was a moment that demonstrated to the American people the unity that is still possible in Congress when it is needed most," he wrote. "But now, with just eight days left in the President's term, you and the Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet and I invoke the 25th Amendment. I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution."

He continued, "Last week I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation."

In conclusion, he urged Pelosi and members of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment.

"Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. I pledge to you that I will continue to do my part to work in good faith with the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition of power. So help me God," he wrote.

The House of Representatives is debating a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office over his role in last week's attack on the Capitol.

With Democrats holding a majority in the chamber, the measure is expected to pass. However, Pence given no public indication that he plans to take action.

Democrats are expected, then, to move forward with impeaching Trump on one article -- charging him with "inciting an insurrection." At least 218 Democrats and three House Republicans have indicated their support to impeach the president.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

The House Judiciary Committee has released a 76-page staff report laying out Democrats' case for impeaching Trump over his role in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.

"President Trump has falsely asserted he won the 2020 presidential election and repeatedly sought to overturn the results of the election. As his efforts failed again and again, President Trump continued a parallel course of conduct that foreseeably resulted in the imminent lawless actions of his supporters, who attacked the Capitol and the Congress. This course of conduct, viewed within the context of his past actions and other attempts to subvert the presidential election, demonstrate that President Trump remains a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our democracy," an excerpt from the report reads.

"The House must reject this outrageous attempt to overturn the election and this incitement of violence by a sitting president against his own government. President Trump committed a high Crime and Misdemeanor against the Nation by inciting an insurrection at the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election," it concludes.

The House is expected to vote to impeach Trump as early as Wednesday -- making him the first president in history to be impeached twice.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately acknowledged he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing it will make it easier for the Republican Party to be rid of Trump, a source confirmed to ABC News.

The New York Times first reported the development.

McConnell has not said publicly whether he'd vote to impeach Trump and a McConnell spokesman declined to comment.

At least three House Republicans -- Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyo., Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. -- have said they will vote to impeach the president.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Late Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar refuted several media reports that he was resigning early, but did share his resignation letter -- effective Jan. 20 at noon -- on Twitter.

While Azar wrote on Twitter that it was his "duty to help ensure a smooth transition to President-elect Biden’s team during the pandemic" through Inauguration Day, he did criticize President Donald Trump and called on him to more strongly condemn the violence at the Capitol last week.

"Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this Administration," Azar wrote in the resignation letter. "The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power that the United States of America first brought to the world. I implore you to continue to condemn unequivocally any form of violence, to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere, and to continue to support unreservedly the peaceful and orderly transition of power on January 20, 2021."

Azar clarified he handed in the letter, dated Jan. 12, last week "along with every other political appointee."

The two-page letter, in which he calls serving as HHS secretary "the greatest professional privilege and honor of my life," details the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Azar paints an entirely rosy picture, referring to it as a "remarkable response," despite skyrocketing deaths and case rates across most of the nation.

"While we mourn every lost life, our early, aggressive, and comprehensive efforts saved hundreds of thousands or even millions of American lives," he wrote, echoing a refrain from the president. There have been over 391,000 deaths in the U.S., nearly twice the number of the second-highest country (208,000 in Brazil).

He also highlighted the agency's efforts to combat the opioid crisis, electronic cigarettes and the HIV epidemic, and made special mention of "protect[ing] the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death."

Azar has served as HHS secretary since January 2018. President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general, to serve as his HHS chief.

ABC News' Ben Siu contributed to this report.