Nearly three months after news of her nomination first leaked, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) is finally set to begin the Senate confirmation process to become undersecretary of State for arms control and international security.

Tauscher will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, the panel announced.

A seven-term lawmaker, Tauscher has been a leader of the New Democrat Coalition, a bloc of business-friendly moderates that she helped turn into a force within the House in recent years.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) is poised to replace Tauscher atop the group.

Meanwhile, the race to fill her House seat is already well under way, with three leading Democrats vying for the nod in the safely Democratic district: State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and state Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan.