Kevin McCarthy last year became the first House Speaker to be removed from office by a vote.Credit: Getty Images
The far-right congressman also led the 2023 coup to oust then-speaker Kevin McCarthy, which paralysed Congress for weeks.
But in a political landscape where democratic norms are constantly shattered, Trump himself is set to enter the White House as the first president found liable for sexual abuse (against writer E. Jean Carroll) and the first to do so as a convicted felon (found guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels).
In the case against Carroll, the 78-year-old Republican was ordered to pay almost $US89 million ($136.3 billion) after a civil jury found Trump had assaulted her in the change rooms of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s and later defamed her when she went public with the allegations – something he denies.
E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after Trump appeared in septemberCredit: AP
In the hush money case, Trump was meant to be sentenced next week, but in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office raised the prospect of freezing the sentence for four years while Trump is president.
“The people deeply respect the office of the president, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office wrote.
“We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”
Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung described the development as a “total and definitive victory for President Trump,” whose legal team is now trying to get the case dismissed entirely.
Pete Hegseth walks to an elevator for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in 2016.Credit: AP
Gaetz is also not the only cabinet nominee whose sexual history has come under scrutiny. Fox & Friends co-host Peter Hegseth, who Trump has tapped to lead the Pentagon as the new secretary for defence, has also admitted to paying a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jnr, the vaccine sceptic who Trump wants as his secretary for health, was also accused of groping a former 23-year-old babysitter to his children.
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In text messages shared by the woman with US media earlier this year, he told her: “I have no memory of this incident, but I apologise sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings. I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent.”
All three men are also viewed as unqualified for the positions they have been asked to fill as they have no federal government experience. They do, however, share the same qualities Trump values: unwavering loyalty and a desire to shake up Washington’s bureaucracy.
As Trump continues to round out his cabinet, the House Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) amid ongoing pressure to release their findings about Gaetz.
The committee could vote to publish the report, bury it, or share it with other senators who have the job of confirming or rejecting Trump’s cabinet nominations.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732.