Bhubaneswar, Jan. 13 -- Washington: United States Vice President Mike Pence has refused to invoke the 25th Amendment to the American Constitution to remove President Donald Trump from office.

"Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent," Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi and House Democrats had pressed Pence and the Cabinet to remove Trump from office in the aftermath of the January 6 breach of the US Capitol by thousands of the president's loyalists.

"As you know full well, the 25th Amendment was designed to address Presidential incapacity or disability," Pence said in the letter, a copy of...