The Senate battle to confirm President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks will begin in earnest on Tuesday, as his controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, meets the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Trump himself will take the oath of office on Jan. 20, and he’s hoping to have some of his team confirmed and in place that day.

Hegseth initially was to be accompanied by former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who is nominated to serve as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Bergum, Trump's nominee to serve as secretary of the Interior Department.

But both of those hearings have been postponed.

Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s initial confirmation hearing.

Pete Hegseth

Hegseth has long been seen as one of the biggest potential confirmation fights of Trump’s Cabinet picks.

That partly reflects the importance of the Pentagon, which employs roughly 27,000 people, making it one of the largest and most complex federal departments.

Hegseth has faced questions about his qualifications to lead such an agency.

He’s a veteran who completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, earning two Bronze Stars. He served as a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Fox News for about seven years before leaving after Trump announced his nomination in November.

But he’s never led an apparatus anywhere near the size of the Pentagon.

He has also faced other controversies, many of which are likely to come up during the Senate Armed Service Committee hearing.

A 2017 police report in which a woman accused Hegseth of sexual assault surfaced soon after his nomination. Hegseth denies the allegations and has said the encounter was consensual.

© The Hill