Jim Manley, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the assault on the Capitol was so unprecedented that it is in the realm of possibility that House Democrats could proceed. Five people died in the episode, including a police officer and a woman who was shot by the police outside the House chamber.

The demands by both Pelosi and Schumer “indicates that for many, doing nothing is not an option,” he said, even though he does not expect enough Republican votes to reach the two-thirds required for an impeachment conviction.

On Thursday evening, Pelosi held a conference call with other top House Democratic leaders, and discussed various options tied to the 25th Amendment and impeachment, and she plans a caucus-wide conference call at noon Friday to discuss what to do, officials said.

A number of Democrats are joining the appeal to invoke the 25th Amendment. But that course, too, has legal and procedural hurdles that would make it difficult to carry out by Jan. 20.

One person familiar with her thinking said Pelosi, as of Thursday, night, had not determined a course of action. She and her advisers believe they have multiple options but that the outcome is unpredictable, according to the person, who asked for anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stayed mum on any next steps regarding Trump after ripping the futile effort by the president’s allies to undo the election that was part of the impetus for the mob to invade the Capitol.

McConnell is married to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who on Thursday resigned saying the attack on Congress “deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

Later on Thursday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos also resigned.

“For two cabinet members to resign, that says to me they are running away from their responsibilities. If they feel that strongly they should stay there,” House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told CNN Friday, “so they can cast two of the votes needed for the 25th amendment.”

A top Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said at a news conference Thursday that the riots would “tarnish” the president’s legacy and, like many lawmakers in both parties, he thought what happened Wednesday could have been much worse. Still, he didn’t think action against Trump was warranted.

“I don’t support an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment now,” Graham said. “If something else happens, then all options would be on the table.”