What does Matt Gaetz actually want?

A few hours before midnight on 1 October, Kevin McCarthy, a Republican congressman and then-House Speaker, appeared to pull off a major victory by brokering a bipartisan deal to avoid a costly government shutdown.

But his moment in the sun was short-lived, extinguished just two days later by his long-time political rival, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who filed a motion to remove Mr McCarthy from his post.

"It's to the benefit of this country that we have a better Speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy," Mr Gaetz said, as he celebrated Mr McCarthy's ouster.

The manoeuvre not only devastated Mr McCarthy's political ambition, but disoriented Washington and plunged the House back into chaos. Republicans once again must decide who they want to be Speaker, just nine months after the tumultuous vote that elected Mr McCarthy in the first place.

For Mr Gaetz at least, the revolt was a rousing success, removing his political nemesis from power and making himself, a relatively junior congressman and reliable flame-thrower, a main character in the drama now consuming Capitol Hill. But it has also made the already unpopular Mr Gaetz, 41, even more isolated in Washington.

So why did he do it and what does he want now?

The coiffed Mr Gaetz, who declined multiple requests for comment, began his political career in Florida state politics, following in the footsteps of his father, the wealthy and connected former state Senator Don Gaetz, who reigned over Panhandle politics for decades.

Mr Gaetz and Mr McCarthy have a well documented rivalry.

During his six years in the Florida House, Matt Gaetz - then known as "baby Gaetz" - built a reputation, like his father, as a serious lawmaker. He cut bipartisan deals and voted alongside Democrats to remove a ban on adoptions by same-sex couples, convincing his father to do the same.

But he also passed a series of trademark right-wing legislation, including a bill that would hasten the execution of inmates on Florida's death row.

In 2016, Mr Gaetz turned his gaze to Washington, running successfully for a seat in the US House from Florida's 1st Congressional District, a Republican stronghold.

His early days as a backbencher were slow and ineffectual. "I would end my days exhausted," the Republican told the New York Times in a 2019 interview of his first months in Congress. "If you can't impact an outcome in this town you are an extra in the movie, and I do not want to do that."

So Mr Gaetz - media savvy or attention seeking, depending on who you ask - found a wider audience within then-President Donald Trump's brand of bombastic populism, endearing himself to Mr Trump in the process.

Cable hits and headlines soon followed, spotlighting Mr Gaetz's increasingly antagonistic moves in Washington.

In 2018, he brought a right-wing Holocaust denier to the State of the Union address, and attended an event in 2020 where he said Proud Boys provided security. He later tried to expel two fathers who lost children in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from a hearing after they stood up to object to a claim he made about gun control.

And last summer, he told a group of conservative students that abortion supporters were less likely to get pregnant because they were unattractive. "Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb," he said.

The abrasive approach has earned him a growing chorus of critics, who describe him as a shameless limelight seeker.

Mr Gaetz is no stranger to the limelight

"Matt Gaetz doesn't care one bit about making a difference as a legislator," said Whit Ayres, a long-time Republican strategist. "He will leave no footprints whatsoever on the legislative history of the United States but I guess he is enjoying starting fights and getting famous."

But Mr Gaetz's estrangement from the political establishment seems only to have fuelled his popularity back home in Florida, where he won re-election last year by 35 points.

"I think the American people are frustrated by the lack of results coming out of Congress," said Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler. "Matt is one of their outlets to express that frustration."

Controversy has continued to dog Mr Gaetz. In the spring of 2021, it emerged that he was under investigation by the justice department for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paying for her to cross state lines, which would amount to sex trafficking. Mr Gaetz denied the allegations, and in February of this year announced that the justice department had closed the case with no charges against him.

But the Florida congressman remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, in a wide-ranging probe into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and misuse of campaign funds. The inquiry, opened while the House was under Democratic control, was re-opened this year, while Mr McCarthy was in charge.

The scandal helped cement Mr Gaetz's reputation as one of the most broadly and openly despised members of Congress.

"I think Matt would be a great dictator in a small island nation in the Pacific or something," said Louisiana Representative Garret Graves last week to Semafor. "That's probably the best next step for him."

But many who know Mr Gaetz from Florida, including Mr Ziegler of the Florida GOP, have praised the congressman for his shrewd political instincts and expert communication.

"There are only a few people I'd be terrified to debate and Matt Gaetz is one of them," Mr Ziegler said. "He is one of the most skilled members up there."

"The last thing Matt cares about is the political class," he said.

Regardless of his unpopularity on the Hill, Mr Gaetz was handed outsized power after the 2022 midterm elections left the Republican party with an unexpectedly slim majority in the House. His party needed nearly every member of its caucus on side to pass legislation without Democratic support.

He used it almost immediately by leading a right-wing attempt to block Mr McCarthy from becoming speaker. He relented only after 15 rounds of balloting and a number of concessions, including a new House rule requiring just one member of Congress to bring a motion to vacate - the procedural tool he used to remove Mr McCarthy at the beginning of October.

So why did he do it?

Mr McCarthy claimed his removal was the result of a long-simmering grudge, personal payback for not squashing the ethics inquiry into Mr Gaetz.

"He's blaming me for an ethics complaint against him," Mr McCarthy said last week. "He wants me to try to wipe that away. I'm not going to do that. That's illegal."

Mr Gaetz has swatted away those accusations, insisting his aims are purely ideological. His primary stated objective is to balance the country's books and cut down its booming deficit, currently sitting at around $33.5tn (£27.25tn).

"I am here to fight for my constituents and I am here to make sure America is not on a path to financial ruin," he said last week.

But Mr Gaetz's critics disagree.

"I think it's pure ambition," said veteran Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.

Mr Bonjean told the BBC he believed Mr Gaetz's ultimate objective lay inside Florida's state house - echoing growing speculation that Mr Gaetz would run for governor in 2026.

"He recognises that he can stop everything and have the spotlight put on him for national attention and fundraising, in order to fuel his political efforts to achieve higher office," he said. "It's the only rational explanation."

Mr Gaetz has denied he plans to run for governor, but the removal of Kevin McCarthy has appeared lucrative for the Florida congressman, serving as the basis for a fresh round of fundraising.

In the ongoing battle for Mr McCarthy's replacement, Mr Gaetz has so far thrown his support behind Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Mr McCarthy's former deputy. But it is still unclear who will come out on top, and how Representative Gaetz will fit in with the new order.

Whatever his ultimate ambition might be, as the Republican party scrambles to stabilise after weeks of disorder, Mr Gaetz is unlikely to accept a role of bit player.