WASHINGTON – Just 48 hours after he settled into his two-room efficiency apartment on Capitol Hill, Michael H. Michaud was caught up in the whirlwind that is Washington.

“I’m running from meeting to meeting,” the 47-year-old former state legislator said on the fly Monday afternoon. “There’s a lot to do.” Today, the Democrat will become the 176th person to be sworn in as a member of the United States Congress from the state of Maine. He succeeds Democratic Rep. John E. Baldacci, who was elected governor last November.

Tops on Michaud’s list is getting a choice committee assignment, and that means focusing on the House Transportation Committee, with backup options of the Commerce Committee or the Education and the Workforce Committee. He even eyed the powerful appropriations panel. For a freshman, appropriations or commerce would be a coup – and not one he’s counting on. And this year, with a lot of attention on homeland security, there’s increased interest in the transportation panel, so even that slot may be tough to obtain.

The selection process may play out later this week, as the Democratic Steering Committee makes its selections, armed with input from the membership.

Meanwhile, Michaud already has participated in the election of a new leader, backing liberal Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., last month as the successor to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., who is standing down after eight years in the job to explore a run for president.

He also has participated in one of the biannual rituals of Capitol Hill – joining the office lottery pool to determine who gets which suite. It’s purely by seniority – never mind which party you are in – and when you’re in a class of 53 freshmen, everyone shares equal seniority. Michaud drew 39, well down the line, but still managed to get to choose one of the vacant offices he thought would serve him – and his constituents – well for the next two years.

“I wanted something that was close to the Capitol, and something that would separate the legislative activity from the activities around my office,” he said. The suite he chose, Room 437 in the Cannon House Office Building, is along Independence Avenue just across the street from the Capitol.

Michaud plans to make a federal version of a Maine Rx prescription drug bill his first major initiative on Capitol Hill, and is working with his Democratic colleague, 1st District Rep. Tom Allen, to craft a plan. The legislation is expected to be put together over the next two weeks, he said.

He has co-sponsored his first bill, a measure by Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which would extend unemployment benefits. Michaud speaks sharply about how the 107th Congress, which ended its session in December, should have stuck around long enough to push that measure through to help the economy.

At a Democratic Caucus meeting Monday, he heard how the party leadership – led by Rangel and Rep. John B. Spratt, D-S.C. – had put together a Democratic economic stimulus plan. This initiative was crafted by the party as an alternative to what the Bush administration is expected to detail today, a new round of business tax breaks.

“I haven’t decided to support it yet,” Michaud said. “I’ve got a copy of it, and it’s one thing I’m going to be looking at. When I look at it, I want to make sure it does actually stimulate the economy, in the short term, but do it in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Michaud was careful not to categorize himself politically – it’s too early for that, perhaps. But some have described him as more conservative than his predecessor.

Michaud also has made some personnel decisions. In addition to campaign manager Peter Chandler becoming his chief of staff, Matt Robison, who had worked for Baldacci in Washington, has been named deputy chief of staff and legislative director.

Rosemary Winslow, who had worked with Michaud in the Maine Legislature, will head his in-state operations as district director working out of the Bangor office. Michaud has decided to keep offices in the same three cities Baldacci had them – Bangor, Lewiston and Presque Isle. In fact, he’ll keep the Baldacci team in place in Presque Isle, but all of his predecessor’s crew in the other two offices have gone on to other jobs, including some in the Governor’s Office.

In Washington at least four aides will be working to help shape legislative initiatives, including ex-Baldacci office manager Ed Gilman; Kim Thompson, a former legislative assistant to Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y.; and Adam Greenlaw, who had been working on health policy issues in the Massachusetts Legislature (and is originally from Michaud’s hometown of East Millinocket). One vacant legislative assistant position remains, and the press secretary’s position has not been filled.

According to The Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, a government publication, Michaud is the 176th member to represent the state. His official biography lists him as a millworker born in Medway, Penobscot County, on Jan. 18, 1955 – making him 11 days shy of his 48th birthday. After graduating from Schenck High School in East Millinocket, Michaud went on to a career in the Maine House of Representatives from 1980 to 1994, and then transferred to the state Senate, where he served until his election to Congress last fall. During his last term, he was president of the Senate.

“I’m honored to be here,” he said Monday. “I hadn’t thought about it until my last term in the Legislature. Then it all just fit into place.”

Rep. Michael H. Michaud can be reached by mail at 437 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, or by phone at (202) 225-6306.

His district offices in Maine are located at:

. 445 Main St, Presque Isle, ME 04769 (207) 764-1036, fax: (207) 764-1060;

. 179 Lisbon St. Ground Floor, Lewiston, ME 04240, (207) 782-3704; and

. 202 Harlow St., Room 23, Bangor, ME 04401, (207) 942-6935, fax: (207) 942-6935.