©  AP Photo/Alex Brandon/Evan Vucci

Several of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks may face early tests that could determine whether their nominations are viable in the Senate.

First up: The House Ethics Committee will meet Wednesday amid controversy over whether to release the results of an investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is Trump’s pick for attorney general.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said the report must remain under wraps, citing Congressional precedent to only release findings for current members. Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress after his nomination last week, which came days before the Ethics Committee was set to release the report.

However, the GOP senators who will vote on Gaetz’s nomination are adamant that they view the report, even if the results are concealed from the public.

“Absolutely I believe the Senate should have access to that,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Sunday on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”

Complicating matters, the lawyer who testified to the House Ethics Committee about allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz will be going on a media offensive, according to an interview with Politico Playbook.

Gaetz denies the allegations and the Department of Justice declined to bring charges against him.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has a thorough rundown on the nine senators who could derail Trump’s Cabinet picks. With a 53-47 majority, a nominee can only afford to lose three GOP senators if all Democrats vote against them.

However, Speaker Johnson has left open the possibility of a recess appointment for Trump’s Cabinet picks that are not moved expeditiously through the confirmation process, potentially bypassing the need for Senate approval.

What is a recess appointment? Via The Hill’s Emily Brooks: “Trump can recess-appoint nominees if Congress adjourns both chambers for 10 days or longer. The Constitution, however, dictates that neither chamber of Congress can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other, giving the House — and therefore, its Speaker — a say in whether it would be possible for Trump to recess-appoint his Cabinet.”

That would mean Johnson and newly elected Senate GOP leader John Thune (R-S.D.) would have to be on the same page about a procedure that the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board described as “anti-Constitutional.”

• Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, is under scrutiny for a paid settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and his lawyer said he’s “completely innocent.” Hegseth will likely be grilled by the Senate for his past remarks about keeping women out of combat roles.
  
  
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has so far received a warm reception from Senate Republicans in his bid lead the Department of Health and Human Services, although the medical establishment is warning in stark terms that his nomination “fails on all fronts.”
  
  
• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have federal workers bracing for an overhaul of the civil service in their roles as leaders of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. Here’s how Ramaswamy described their mandate: “We expect mass reductions,” he told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright. We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated.”

Trump made several appointments and nominations over the weekend:

• Trump tapped Karoline Leavitt to be White House press secretary. At 27 years old, she’d be the youngest to ever do it.
  
  
• Chris Wright, a Trump donor and fracking company leader, is Trump’s pick to run the Department of Energy.
  
  
• Trump nominated Brendan Carr to lead the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Carr is currently the top Republican at the FCC. Here are five things to know about Carr.
  
  
• Will Scharf, who is one of Trump’s personal attorneys, will be White House staff secretary.