After the initial crush of personnel announcements for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, now the nominations process officially begins. Senate hearings are scheduled this coming week for several of Trump’s picks for the Cabinet. Many have met with senators individually. Now, they will go before the committees overseeing the agencies that Trump wants them to run.

The former “Fox & Friends” weekend host and Army National Guard combat veteran goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee after weeks of meetings during which some senators have questioned his fitness for the role amid allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. The Pentagon chief’s authority over the U.S. military is second only to that of the president’s.

“We’re going to have a little bit of a train wreck next week of confirmation hearings,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters last week. “But I’m glad we’re getting those done, and the FBI background check would naturally be a part of that process.”

Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing is becoming a test of will for Republicans on ensuring FBI files aren't distributed throughout the entire Senate. The Trump transition team is demanding that the president-elect's nominees be treated the same way they insist Joe Biden's were. That means no FBI background check access for rank-and-file senators, according to two people familiar with the matter. Senate Armed Services chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) have been briefed on the report. Others have not. A member of the Trump transition sat in on the FBI background briefing on Hegseth's file, a source familiar told Axios. The senators weren't given a copy of the file. They also weren't allowed to take notes or pictures.

Wicker privately raised the idea of letting his full committee see Hegseth's file, but Trump officials are opposed to sharing it, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Trump team wants to hold the line on having a consistent standard for all nominees. Look for them to fight any effort to release Hegseth's file, even if Wicker says there's not much of interest. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Dems are huddling tonight on how to respond, as Axios scooped earlier on Monday. Democrats admit the precedent is on the GOP's side. But they say the nature of Hegseth's nomination — including allegations of sexual misconduct that he's denied — at least deserves a conversation. "We should all be able to see the report and draw our own conclusions about how incomplete it is and even in the modest amount it covers, how much damage it does to Mr. Hegseth," Armed Services committee member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Axios.