WASHINGTON — President Trump promised a smooth transition in a video message posted on Twitter on Thursday night, saying that his supporters had pursued post-election challenges in good faith, but “now tempers must be cooled and calm restored.”

Trump’s comments are the closest he has come to acknowledging his loss, and they follow escalating calls for his removal, coming hours after the nation’s top congressional Democrats demanded he be removed from office for his role in the deadly sacking of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called on officials to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment, warning that they are prepared to begin impeachment proceedings if the Cabinet and vice president do not act. Though that extraordinary step is unlikely to succeed, it is a sign that a growing number of Democrats and Republicans now believe Trump is too dangerous to remain president.

Trump “invited an armed insurrection against the United States of America,” Pelosi told reporters a day after a pro-Trump mob incited by the president stormed the Capitol, vandalizing the building and forcing lawmakers to evacuate. One woman was fatally shot and three people died of other causes.

Over the course of the day, a growing chorus of officials – including current Cabinet secretaries and Trump allies – strongly chastised the president, who stayed out of sight until his evening message, in which he denounced the mob attack, adding “to those who broke the law, you will pay.”

Reading off a script in a flat voice, Trump claimed he immediately deployed the National Guard to help secure the building and expel the intruders. Other officials have disputed that account. Trump also claimed his attempts to overturn the election results were simply his efforts to “ensure the integrity of the vote.”

“Now, Congress has certified the results,” he said. “A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20th. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.”

Late Thursday night, the Capitol Police said an officer who was injured responding to the riots had died. Officer Brian D. Sicknick died Thursday from injuries sustained while on-duty, physically engaging with protesters at the Capitol, the statement said.

Sicknick returned to his division office and collapsed, the report said. He was taken to a hospital and later died.

The death will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, the Capitol Police, and federal law enforcement. Sicknick joined the Capitol police in 2008.

Democratic leaders of the House Appropriations Committee said the “tragic loss” of a Capitol police officer “should remind all of us of the bravery of the law enforcement officers who protected us, our colleagues, Congressional staff, the press corps and other essential workers″ during the hourslong takeover of the Capitol by pro-Trump protesters.

Late Wednesday night, lawmakers certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, the proceeding they were in the middle of when the pro-Trump riot began. The Senate voted 92 to 7 to reject a Republican challenge to Biden’s victory; the House dismissed the challenges in a 282 to 138 vote.

Shortly after Congress affirmed Biden’s win, Trump released a statement pledging “an orderly transition,” even as he continued to falsely claim the election was riddled with fraud. The statement was tweeted by White House social media director Dan Scavino as Trump remained locked out of his account.

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said.

Hours earlier, Trump had encouraged his followers to march on the Capitol and sympathized with the rioters even as the insurrection was underway, calling them “great patriots” and explaining away the lawless siege as the consequence of a stolen election.

Even some Trump allies, who rarely rebuke the president and often take pains to defend his behavior in public, tried to distance themselves from the president, criticizing Trump’s behavior as unacceptable.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who served the entire four years of Trump’s presidency, announced her intention to resign, effective on Monday. Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., became the first Cabinet secretary to leave over the insurrection.

Former Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster tweeted that the main reason for the attack on Congress “is the sad reality that President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.”

One set of proposed impeachment articles was circulated Thursday by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who invited colleagues to join her efforts because “our country, our democracy, and our national security remain in danger” as long as Trump is in office.

The drumbeat on Capitol Hill for the president’s removal grew louder when Schumer, the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, said in a statement that Trump “should not hold office one day longer” after inciting an “insurrection against the United States.”

Schumer said Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the emergency provisions of the 25th Amendment and move to strip Trump of his power ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration.

“If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” Schumer said.

Pelosi and Schumer made a joint phone call to Pence Thursday asking him to consider invoking the 25th Amendment, but they didn’t reach him, Schumer told reporters Thursday. “They kept us on hold for 25 minutes and then said the vice president wouldn’t come on the phone,” he said. “So we are making this call public because he should do it and do it right away.”

Pence made no public appearances or statements Thursday.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., also came out in favor of Trump’s removal, the first Republican member of Congress to do so. Kinzinger has emerged over the past two months as an outspoken critic of Trump’s efforts to undermine the election.

Kinzinger said in a video that it was time to “end this nightmare.”

“The president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell, and now the president must relinquish control of the executive branch, voluntarily or involuntarily,” he said.

But most Republicans remained on the sidelines, and some senior Republican officials applauded Trump when he briefly called into a members-only gathering at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting Thursday morning.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel put Trump on speakerphone, according to people in the room.

“We love you!” some in the room shouted.

Others calling for action Thursday included Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

“If the vice president and Cabinet fail to act, we have a duty to pursue impeachment,” she said.

Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah, who was the only Republican to vote for Trump’s impeachment last year and spoke out against GOP attempts to undo the November election, said “time’s a little short” for impeachment and dismissed talk of invoking the 25th Amendment.

“I think we’ve got to hold our breath for the next 20 days,” Romney said.

Neither the House nor Senate is currently expected to meet again before Jan. 19 except in skeleton pro forma sessions. But lawmakers could be called back if circumstances warrant.

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