WASHINGTON, D.C. – Leading the entourage, Norm Coleman — Minnesota’s last Republican senator — guides Donald Trump’s secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth through the halls of the Senate.

Coleman has been a fixture at the Forest Lake native’s side as Hegseth has met with senators day after day amid a barrage of unflattering headlines about his past that have made his path to confirmation an uphill climb.

“Nobody better than Senator Norm Coleman. It’s been an absolute honor to work with him. I’ve known him for years,” Hegseth said without taking further questions as he, Coleman and his entourage head into the office of Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., for their fifth meeting of the day.

At the start of the month, it looked like Hegseth might not get confirmed as questions about his drinking, sexual assault allegations and reports that Trump was weighing his replacement surfaced. But by the end of the first week of December, Hegseth had won Trump’s public support and began ramping up meetings with senators, all with Coleman at his side.

When they emerge from Young’s office after about an hour, Coleman moves to the front of the entourage tightly surrounding Hegseth. They quickly head to their last meeting that day, with incoming Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. Hegseth will have met with more than 40 senators this week and is slated to meet with more in the new year, the Trump transition team said. And his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee is set for Jan. 14.