By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff

Incoming freshmen are not yet official members of Congress, but many of them will be casting their first tough votes this week as both parties in both chambers organize for the 111th Congress.

While there are only a few contested leadership elections to be decided in either chamber, Democrats face politically treacherous decisions on key committee chairmanships in both the House and the Senate.

In the House, they must decide whether challenger Henry A. Waxman of California or veteran Chairman John D. Dingell of Michigan will wield the gavel at the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. In the Senate, Democrats will determine the fate of Joseph I. Lieberman , I-Conn., who could be stripped of his chairmanship at Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs because of his vigorous campaign support for GOP presidential nominee John McCain .

Newly elected House Democrats are turning out to be as coy and sly as their soon-to-be colleagues when it comes to the gavel contest between Dingell and Waxman.

In several interviews at the Capitol Hyatt, where the newly elected gathered for their first day of orientation on Sunday, no one declared support for either Dingell or Waxman — save for Rep.-elect Mark Schauer, who along with fellow Michigan Rep.-elect Gary Peters has endorsed Dingell.

It’s not that Dingell and Waxman aren’t burning up the phone lines or that they didn’t send warm greetings to many of the newbies in the form of contributions during the campaign season.

“They’ve both been in touch with us,” said Rep.-elect Eric Massa of western New York.

New Mexican Ben Ray Luján said he has had “several conversations with several people” about the chairmanship battle.

Kurt Schrader, elected to succeed retiring Oregon Rep. Darlene Hooley , said he’s “trying to get some background on both gentlemen” and “trying to get the lay of the land and not mess up my first day in Congress.”

Rep.-elect Chellie Pingree, a veteran of the Maine legislature and a former head of the advocacy group Common Cause, said her political experience has helped her keep her thoughts to herself.

“I know enough to keep my powder dry for a while,” she said.

Freshmen from both chambers and both parties are on Capitol Hill this week to engage in the preliminary work that has to be done before the new Congress.

They will cast caucus votes for leadership positions, they will choose their new offices — though the really roomy suites have all been spoken for by more senior members — and they will be briefed on what they need to know to run those offices, from payroll procedures to ethics rules for them and their staffs.