Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be defense secretary, is back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to continue meeting with Republican senators. This time, the embattled nominee is branching out beyond the Trump-allied GOP senators to some who aren’t yet committed.

Hegseth is set to meet with at least three Republicans this afternoon: Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).

Budd and Schmitt both sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee that will handle the nomination and have expressed support for Hegseth. But Risch, who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hasn’t yet committed to supporting him.

Hegseth will have two Washington insiders with him when he meets with lawmakers: Eric Ueland, a former Senate aide who served as Trump’s legislative affairs director, and former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, a lobbyist who represented Minnesota from 2003 to 2009.

Early Senate meetings for Hegseth, who has faced allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse, have focused on staunch Trump allies who have defended the Army veteran and former Fox News personality with no Pentagon experience. Those allies have so far argued Hegseth is an outsider who’ll shake up the Defense Department.

Hegseth met Monday with another Trump ally, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), as well as vocal defense hawk Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). Tuberville said his meeting with Hegseth was focused on his priorities, such as military recruiting, Pentagon waste and defense assets in Alabama.

“He’s got to continue to do this. He’s going to have to answer a lot of questions … to people that are going to either possibly give him a confirmation vote or not give him a confirmation vote,” Tuberville told reporters.

Late Monday, Hegseth also met with a group of roughly 10 Republican senators, where he was accompanied by his wife and did not address the misconduct allegations against him, several senators said afterward. Hegseth did defend his lack of DOD experience.

“He said, ‘Look, what I lack in terms of knowledge of the E-ring of the Pentagon, I will more than make up for by surrounding myself with the best and the brightest people who are familiar with what goes where,’” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told reporters.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) waved off the allegations of impropriety, citing Fox News news host Megyn Kelly’s defense of Hegseth, who argued that combat veterans can have difficulty navigating their personal lives.

“Are soldiers sometimes wild childs? Yeah, that can happen, but it is very clear that this guy is the guy who, at a time when Americans were losing confidence in their own military, in our ability to project strength around the world, Pete Hegseth is the answer to that concern.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could face the biggest test of her influence yet if a coveted spot as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee opens up.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who currently holds the job, is running against Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) for the top Democratic spot on the Judiciary Committee. If Raskin successfully ousts Nadler, that will kick off a scramble to replace him.

Although Democrats are reluctant to publicly discuss an Oversight bid before the Judiciary challenges are settled, lawmakers are privately making calls to test the waters, quietly jockeying behind the scenes. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), possible contenders for the top spot include Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

It’s the latest example that will test how far House Democrats are willing to go in shaking up their seniority-dominated conference. Several lawmakers are already openly challenging senior Democrats for the gavels on key panels.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said Monday he would end his bid for reelection as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, potentially clearing the way for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who’d been challenging Grijalva, though Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) has also signaled interest. And atop the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who’s faced questions about his health and his ability to lead the panel’s Democrats, is facing strong challenges from Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.).

But the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez is a different case. She’s not just significantly younger than those other contenders, she’s also frequently challenged the party’s status quo writ large. She was often at odds with the previous generation of House leaders and, along with other members of the progressive “Squad,” has used her powerful microphone to, at times, express skepticism of Democratic leadership.

It’s unclear if she could be swept in with a wave of generational change or could face turbulence in the Steering and Policy Committee, a leadership-appointed panel that decides most committee positions. The committee is expected to start considering the contested ranking member slots next week and will make recommendations to the full caucus after holding secret-ballot votes.

If Ocasio-Cortez mounts a bid and wins her caucus’ support, it could amount to the ultimate inside power play for the outspoken progressive, who first came to office by primarying a powerful committee chair in 2018. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond to a request for comment.

It would come less than two years after Raskin and Oversight Committee Democrats gave her the vice ranking member position, a move that gave her a high-profile perch amid concerns that Raskin could be absent during his cancer treatments at the time.

Ocasio-Cortez is also close with Raskin, first serving as his vice ranking member on a previous Oversight subpanel overseeing civil rights issues. She’s also helped mentor younger committee members and gone viral for high-profile tangles with Republicans on the panel, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Democrats nationally are wrestling over who will lead their party post-election. But in the Senate, they’re largely staying the course.

In a closed-door party meeting on Tuesday, Senate Democrats elected leadership for their return to the minority, including tapping Sen. Chuck Schumer for another term as caucus leader, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was also elected to another term as whip, the No. 2 spot.

Two other Democrats rose in the ranks: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was elected to the No. 3 spot as chair of the Steering and Policy Committee. It’s a step up for Klobuchar, who is currently No. 4 in the Democratic leadership rankings and serves as chair of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

And Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was elected as chair of the Strategic Communications Committee. The one-time presidential candidate has been in the Senate in 2013 after previously serving as a mayor of Newark, N.J.

All of the elections were unanimous, per the aide.

Schumer’s reelection as leader in particular signals trust from rank-and-file Democrats in their current leadership ranks. Despite a brutal November for the party writ large, Senate Democrats did win competitive races in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona. They’re still publicly ambitious about their 2026 map and hopeful about their chances to take back the majority.

That positivity doesn’t extend party-wide. Multiple Democrats in the House are being challenged for ranking member seats. And Democratic pundits are still locked in a back-and-forth over what went wrong for the party which lost the House, Senate and presidency. Schumer himself has acknowledged the party needs to reflect on how it’s connected with voters and assess ways to adjust.

“I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country …” Schumer said in a statement. “Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values. We have a lot of work ahead – in the Senate and as a country — and in this upcoming Congress, our caucus will continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.”

Schumer, gesturing to the photographers after the leadership elections, asked his fellow Democrats if they should flash thumbs up, but Klobuchar replied: “No, we should not.”