Over 80 strong, the Class of 2010 arrived in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, ready for the start of freshman orientation, and ready to shake things up in the halls of Congress.

While most of the incoming freshman will be making their first trip to D.C. since their victory, some have already been here, working on GOP transition efforts.

"This is an important opportunity for us as members of this new class to be at the table moving forward as to what this Congress looks like," said Martha Roby, an Alabama Republican who defeated Blue Dog Democrat Bobby Bright earlier this month.

Another GOP rising star from this freshman class is Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is one of two black Republicans in the next Congress.

"I think it's important for us to realize that the best outreach for minorities is to look at the overall construct of America to realize that we all go together," Scott said during a meeting of the House GOP transition team last week.

A few Republicans will be here for orientation even though their victories have not yet been certified, like Randy Altschuler, who leads Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) by just over 300 votes.

As I wrote last week, I've seen some people roll into town for orientation, thinking that they were going to be members of Congress, and then roll out of town on the short end of the election stick.

We'll see what happens in some of those close races this week.

The coming days won't be all about freshman orientation.  The newcomers also get to join with their colleagues who are already members, to vote on their party leadership posts.

The big one that everyone has been watching is among House Democrats, as Nancy Pelosi tries to move over to Minority Leader, while Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) battle for the job as her top lieutenant.

The other item that's being watched closely is in the Senate, where newly elected GOP Senators want to impose a ban on home state budget earmarks for next year.  That's pitting them against some Old Bulls, including Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

In the midst of all of that, there's also the maneuvering that will go on dealing with the expiring Bush tax cuts, and a host of other important legislative items that were punted into the Lame Duck session.

The Freshman also get the chance to pick out what offices they want, while those on the way out will have to step up the pace of clearing out their files for the new boss.

Oh yeah, and did I mention the ethics trial that starts today of Rep. Charlie Rangel?  It should be a very interesting week.

The new Congress gets sworn in on January 5 and 12 noon EST.