Photo taken on Jan. 12, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he won't invoke the 25th Amendment to oust President Donald Trump, shortly before the House was set to vote on a resolution urging him to do so. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12  -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he will not invoke the 25th Amendment to oust President Donald Trump, shortly before the House was set to vote on a resolution urging him to do so.

"Now with just eight days left in the President's term, you and Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet and I invoke the 25th Amendment," Pence wrote in a letter to Pelosi released Tuesday night. "I do not believe such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with the Constitution."

"Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert 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," the vice president said.

Pence's rejection came as the House was set to vote on a Democratic-proposed resolution urging him to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office in the wake of last week's Capitol Hill violence.

Should the vice president refuse to do so, the House will push ahead with the impeachment proceedings against Trump, warned the Democrats, who control the House.