Nadler allies aren’t worried.

“He’s as steady as a rock,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who sits on the Judiciary and Intelligence panels.

The Judiciary Committee, led by Nadler and his staff, spent much of Tuesday holding a dress rehearsal in the storied Ways and Means Committee hearing room. The Intelligence Committee held all of its impeachment hearings in that room — one of the largest and grandest in the Capitol — and Judiciary is following suit, at least for its first hearing.

During the six-hour prep session, Democrats held a mock hearing during which former Capitol Hill staffers were brought in to play GOP attack dogs on the committee, including Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and ranking member Doug Collins of Georgia.

Around lunchtime as Judiciary Democrats noshed on tacos, the Intelligence Committee released its long-awaited final report on the Ukraine investigation. Democrats in the room immediately began pulling up the executive summary on their phones, many of them seeing the report for the first time, according to lawmakers.

Judiciary members have been eagerly awaiting the return of their committee — and their chairman — to the public stage, with more than half the nation now siding with them on impeachment according to public surveys.

Democrats on the panel insist they aren’t nervous about the first hearing, saying privately that the format has been tightly coordinated with leadership and they don’t expect a slate of constitutional experts to be combative witnesses. But Nadler’s reappearance at the center of the impeachment probe doesn't come without risks, some lawmakers said.

The panel's last high-profile hearing in September — featuring a defiant Corey Lewandowski — was widely panned as a disaster. And even before that, many Democrats were privately dismayed about what they saw as juvenile antics on their side, including Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee chowing down on a bucket of chicken at the dais after Attorney General William Barr refused to show up to a hearing.

The discord led to clashes with leadership, including Pelosi, who privately complained to her leadership team that Nadler should have punished Lewandowski on the spot.

There are also some lingering fears among rank-and-file Democrats, including vulnerable freshmen, about Nadler’s approach. These lawmakers had complained that Nadler was leaning too hard into impeachment in the wake of Robert Mueller’s report over the summer, without the support of many in his caucus.

The outcome of Wednesday's hearing is likely to set the tone for the final phase of impeachment — at least three hearings, including a possible session next week at which lawmakers are expected to approve articles of impeachment.

Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who sits on the Judiciary and Intelligence panels, said Democrats intend to showcase “seriousness” on Wednesday in the face of any GOP stunts.

“There’s a sense that the facts are clearly on our side, so showing people that the process is fair, I think, is important. The process has to be as persuasive as the facts,” Swalwell said, adding that one of the goals is “making clear that if [Trump] wants to be there, he can be there.”

Republicans on the panel held their own practice session Tuesday, where members could test out their lines of attack for the next day's hearing. Several of the GOP members, including Jordan, Collins and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, are fierce defenders of Trump and are expected to make the hearing as difficult as possible for Democrats through various procedural shenanigans.