Tiring of the endless drama of the Trump era, anticipating the House going to the Democrats in next year’s midterms, and weary of the three-ring circus Congress has become, it’s small wonder that House Speaker Paul Ryan is ready to go.

House staff members and others familiar with Ryan’s thinking confirmed to the Herald reports he is privately considering hanging up his gavel after the midterms — or possibly even earlier, to avoid the headache of another re-election bid for himself.

On the record, Ryan denied to reporters that he’s headed for the exit.

In some ways, Ryan’s situation is similar to the one that caused Boehner to walk away — warring factions from within his party that made even repealing Obamacare impossible.

“The rest of the country does understand that it is hard as heck to herd 435 cats,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. “Frankly there is no position, other than president of the United States, that is going the be harder than the position he has right now.”

Read more from Kimberly Atkins at the Boston Herald

Rep. Kevin McCarthy left his party flummoxed about where to turn next for a leader, and the rest of Washington stunned by the chaos within Congress’ ruling party, when he removed himself from the running Thursday for House speaker.

In a closed-door session originally scheduled as a coronation for the 50-year-old Bakersfield Republican, McCarthy told colleagues that he is “not the one” to unite the party, despite having more than 200 of the 247-member Republican caucus behind him, the largest GOP majority since 1928. 

Even with their stranglehold on the House, Republicans have demonstrated time and again their difficulty knitting the party’s uncompromising Tea Party faction, numbering roughly 40 to 50 members, into a governing majority. 

That conservative bloc, operating under various groupings, including one called the Freedom Caucus, does not have enough support to elect a leader, but does have enough to keep anyone they oppose from holding the job.

Republican analyst Ford O’Connell agreed that the mayhem could damage Republicans next year. “They have to resolve it,” O’Connell said, or else “the majority could come into play in 2016. There’s a lot on the line.”

Read more from Carolyn Lochhead at San Francisco Chronicle

There's a great irony to John Boehner's resignation — once upon a time, he was involved in an attempt to oust a speaker himself. The official bio on the speaker's website puts it this way: he was, back in the day, "a reformer who took on the establishment."

But when one becomes speaker, one becomes, by definition, part of the establishment. And these days, the conservative base just doesn't like the establishment.

Here's another irony: Boehner has become more conservative over the last 25 years — and the Ohio Republican remains more conservative than the average GOP congressman. But he hasn't kept pace with the hard-liners, and that's important in this era of record polarization.

Those are two big reasons Boehner's job as speaker was such a struggle. Let's examine:

1. Voters (Republicans especially) really don't trust Washington 

Americans have grown increasingly distrustful of government in the last few decades, and the feeling is particularly strong among Republicans, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

Long story short, public distrust of government translated into elected officials distrusting establishment figures, said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell. Outsiders distrusted the long-time leaders, and those leaders suffered for it.

"They're elected to represent your views. ... And a lot of Republicans just did not feel [lawmakers] were making the progress that they should," O'Connell said. "Boehner was the symbol of that inaction."

Read more from Danielle Kurtzleben at NPR

Normally in the attempted coup business, this is the part where the plotters get punished.

Those 25 Republicans who made a run at dumping John Boehner (R-Ohio) as Speaker of the House did not succeed in stopping the Speaker from winning a third term.

They had the backing of the American people — 60 percent of those who voted for Republicans in the 2014 midterms say they want a new Speaker.

hey had more rebels willing to take the risks than at any time in the last 100 years.

And they had momentum with voters resoundingly favoring conservative candidates and conservative policies in the elections.

Voters did not go for pastel. They went for "end ObamaCare, defund amnesty, lower taxes now." These are bright colors, bold distinctions, and they are not Boehner's cup of tea.

But what the plotters didn't have was a coordinated strategy for pulling it off or a candidate to siphon enough votes to force extra ballots. They tried to beat something with nothing, and the results were sadly predictable.

But what now? Should the speaker not exact revenge if for no other reason than to enforce party discipline?

Read more from Ford O'Connell at The Hill