Kevin McCarthy dealing with 'various stages of grief' as he ponders House exit: report

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is reportedly giving serious consideration to leaving Congress after undergoing the humiliation of being deposed by his own caucus as House speaker after a brief eight months, reports the New York Times.

According to the report, the former GOP leader is having a hard time acclimating to life as just another rank-and-file House member after attaining the heights of becoming the face of the House Republican caucus.

As close McCarthy ally Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) put it, "When you spend two decades building something, it’s difficult to end that chapter. His life has been building the Republican majority and attaining the third-highest office in the land. It is difficult for any mortal to deal with an abrupt end and determine his next chapter.”

According to the Post's Annie Karni, life in the House for McCarthy after his ouster has become "untenable," with Karni adding the California Republican spends his days in the Capitol "contemplating his options for the future and cycling through various stages of grief over his merciless political downfall."

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"These days, Mr. McCarthy, famous for his preternaturally sunny California disposition, has been hard to cheer up. He no longer attends the conference meetings he used to preside over, and at times has struggled to contain his anger at the Republicans who deposed him," the Post report states before adding, "House Republicans are beginning to move past Mr. McCarthy’s removal as they navigate business with Mr. Johnson at the helm. But Mr. McCarthy has not finished processing his defenestration. He is someone who has never enjoyed being alone, and an emptier schedule leaves more time to spend in one’s own head."

According to McCarthy, he has yet to make up his mind on whether he will stay or go.

“I just went through losing, so you go through different stages,” he admitted in an interview on Wednesday. “I have to know that when I go, that there’s a place for me, and what am I going to do, and is that best?”

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