WASHINGTON, Dec 4, (AP): Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day Tuesday on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon. Hegseth told reporters he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical of his nomination.

"We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth as he went from office to office Tuesday. "And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.” Trump tapped the Fox News co-host, a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, as his Secretary of Defense, typically among the first Cabinet posts to be considered by the US Senate for confirmation. But Hegseth is running into questions amid a assault allegation, which he has denied, and other emerging reports about his work conduct and history.

GOP Sen Lindsey Graham said some of the reports are "disturbing.” "I want to make sure that every young woman that joins the military feels respected and welcomed,” Graham told CBS News. The South Carolina lawmaker told the AP later that he doesn’t know whether to believe the allegations, and Hegseth "has a chance to say that’s true or not true.” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he's seen the reports. "I’ll get the chance to talk to him, and I’m sure he’ll address them," he said. "But my view is, have the hearing.”

Before he was tapped to serve as a weekend host of "Fox & Friends,” Hegseth served at two veterans advocacy groups, Concerned Veterans for America and Veterans For Freedom. In new allegations this week, the New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about his time leading CVA that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers and financial mismanagement.