And now, House Democrats, as Politico’s Jonathan Allen recently noted “are ready to eat their young as they tussle for scarce morsels of influence” in the incoming 2011 Congress.

One consequence of this has been that the Democratic Party’s most talented young stars are getting knocked off A-list committees because they are fresh and gifted and thus threaten their older, veteran colleagues with seniority.

“Veteran lawmakers are waging political war over ranking member positions that they would have considered beneath them just a few short weeks ago,” notes Allen.

The problem is – there are few morsels to share. In January, there will be 63 fewer Democrats in the House and 192 fewer seats for the party to fill on all the House committees – this is due to the decision of incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, who already announced his intention to cut the number of seats on the House committees by nearly 10 percent. This means that the House will drop from 869 committee seats in 2010 to 785 openings in 2011.

The list of junior Democrats in line to get dumped is significant because it includes some of the party’s sharpest rising stars on the polical and policy arenas, including Bruce Braley, D-Ohio; Steve Israel of New York; Chris Murphy of Connecticut; Tim Ryan of Ohio; Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania; Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida; and Linda Sanchez of California.

This also is a time for young congressmen to look back and mull over their behavior. Take, for example, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz – viewed as a rising star by the Democrats and a possible next speaker of the House after Nancy Pelosi. She now has been sidelined.

Some say she ran afoul with Pelosi while she gained a reputation as a media-savvy national political figurehead who was outspoken – viewed by some as too outspoken for the Democratic leadership.

Positions that Wasserman-Schulz wanted instead were given to Steven Israel, who will head the much-wanted Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In picking Israel, Pelosi cited his ability to “win in tough districts,” despite the fact he was not nearly as active as Wasserman-Schultz in fundraising and campaigning – she raised more than $8 million for the DCCC in the past year, compared to about $3 million by Israel.

But there is even more to be concerned about regarding the new Republican-led Congress in January. As soon as Republicans take control of the House, Congressman Peter King, a Long Island Republican, plans to get down to business “investigating” what he sees as an increasing “radicalization” of American Muslims.

In a Newsday opinion piece, King said he’s not conducting a McCarthyesque witch hunt; he’s just worried about domestic terrorism, and says he’s not going to let “political correctness” hold him back.

King, who will become the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has said he will be fair and invite mainstream Muslim leaders to speak at his hearing.

But it’s unclear if many will accept the invitation.

“We are disturbed that this representative who is in a leadership position does not have the understanding and knowledge of what the realities are on the ground,” Abed A. Ayoub, the legal director for the Washington-based American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told reporters, adding that King’s proposal “has bigoted intentions.”

And Salam Al-Marayati, the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told reporters King “basically wants to treat the Muslim-American community as a suspect community.”

Rep. King, a nine-term incumbent, told reporters that he had sought to raise the issue when Democrats had control of Congress, but was “denounced for it.” He added: “It is controversial. But to me, it is something that has to be discussed.”

It looks like a bumpy ride for many in 2011.