to act on impeachment by the middle of next week but in a noon phone call some others cautioned that democrats needed to pause to consider the implications and ms pelosi told her colleagues she planned to speak to presidentelect joseph r biden jr about the matter later on friday afternoonduring an appearance in wilmington del on friday mr biden did not weigh in on plans to impeach mr trump saying what the congress decides to do is for them to decidebut mr biden had harsh words for mr trump he has exceeded even my worst notions about him he said hes been an embarrassment for the country and he added hes not worthy to hold the officean aide to ms pelosi said that she still had not heard from mr pence despite putting intense public pressure on him to act but mr pence was said to be opposed to doing so and she was making plans to move aheaddemocrats were rushing to begin the expedited proceeding two days after the president rallied his supporters near the white house urging them to go to the capitol to protest his election defeat then continuing to stoke their grievances as they stormed the edifice with mr pence and the entire congress meeting inside to formalize mr bidens victory in a rampage that left an officer and a member of the mob dead three others died including one woman who was crushed in the crowd and two men who had medical emergencies on the capitol groundsthe prospect of forcing mr trump from office in less than two weeks appeared remote given the logistical and political challenges involved given that a twothirds majority in the senate would be requiredjust a day after he voted twice to overturn mr bidens legitimate victory in key swing states representative kevin mccarthy of california the republican leader urged both parties to lower the temperature and said he would reach out to mr biden about uniting the country though he did not defend mr trump he argued that seeking to remove him would not helpimpeaching the president with just 12 days left in his term will only divide our country more he saidat least some republicans appeared newly open to the possibility which could also disqualify mr trump from holding political office in the futuresenator ben sasse republican of nebraska a frequent critic of mr trump said he would definitely consider whatever articles they might move because i believe the president has disregarded his oath of officehe swore an oath to the american people to preserve protect and defend the constitution he acted against that mr sasse said on cbs what he did was wickedthe house is next scheduled to be in session on monday meaning that articles of impeachment could not be introduced until then on friday ms clark said on twitter that democrats were working to find the quickest path to hold trump accountable but added that they faced obstruction and attempts to delay us by the