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Washington (CNN) – Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, said Friday that he will formally announce his retirement from Congress this weekend so he can focus on his run for governor next year.

Abercrombie has scheduled a press conference for Sunday.

"I cannot claim the Governorship should be a cornerstone of our democracy and not make the campaign for it the center of all my efforts," Abercrombie said in a statement posted on his campaign Web site.

The 10-term congressman said he already shared his decision with the White House, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other members of Hawaii's congressional delegation. Abercrombie's move will trigger a special election to fill the remainder of his term.

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Washington (CNN) – Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kansas, will not run for re-election next year, a senior Democratic aide confirms to CNN.

Moore was first elected in 1998 and easily won a sixth term in 2008 after being targeted for defeat early in his career by the Republican Party.

The Kansas City Star was the first to report Monday the congressman's decision not to seek a seventh term.

CNN has left a message with Moore's office seeking comment.

(CNN) - Florida Rep. Robert Wexler is resigning the seat he's held for 12 years to head up the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace, the Democratic congressman announced Wednesday.

Wexler, who has proudly described himself as a "fire-breathing liberal," is a also strong defender of Israel.

His district, which includes much of Palm Beach, is heavily Democratic and not expected to be vulnerable for the party next cycle. The Miami Herald reports his announcement has already spurred jockeying from several Florida Democrats who are thinking of making a bid for the seat.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is legally required to call a special election after Wexler formally resigns his seat in January.

Wexler may be best-known nationally for his July 2006 interview on The Colbert Report during which the faux-news host coaxed him to declare: "I enjoy cocaine because... it's a fun thing to do." Colbert said Wexler, who was running unopposed that year, was allowed to say anything he wanted and still get elected.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Top House Democrats on Tuesday slammed insurers who claim that domestic violence is a pre-existing condition that can be used to deny coverage to battered women.

They pledged to incorporate a ban on the practice in the health care reform legislation currently winding its way through Congress.

Forty-two states have already passed such a prohibition, according to a recent report from the National Women's Law Center. Idaho, Mississippi, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and the District of Columbia have not, however.

"Think of this," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "You've survived domestic violence, and now you are discriminated (against) in the insurance market because you have a pre-existing medical condition. Well, that will all be gone."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Democrats split sharply over the issue of health care reform Friday as a key committee chairman said he would not negotiate further with party conservatives worried about spiraling medical costs.

"We're not going to let them empower the Republicans. I don't see any other alternative," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-California.

Waxman's comments came shortly after a representative of a group of fiscally conservative House Democrats urged congressional leaders to slow the pace of health care deliberations.

Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, a key member of the influential Blue Dog coalition, said he remains concerned that the legislation currently being pushed through the House of Representatives does not do enough to rein in health care inflation.

"This is fundamental change that's going to effect all 300 million people in America," Ross said on CNN's "American Morning."

"Let's not rush it. Let's slow down. Let's get it right and ensure that the American people get the kind of health care that they need and deserve."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Republicans will target freshman Rep. Tom Perriello in a new television commercial that criticizes the Virginia Democrat for his recent vote in favor of controversial energy reform legislation.

The 30-second political ad will begin airing Wednesday in the Lynchburg and Roanoke media markets and marks the first time the House GOP campaign arm, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), has used President Obama in a commercial in the 2010 election cycle. It is scheduled to run for one week.

The TV ad is part of a larger public relations campaign by House Republicans to criticize Democrats for supporting the bill that the GOP claims will result in a tax increase and stunt job growth.

NRCC official Ken Spain told CNN that voters in 13 additional congressional districts will hear radio ads or receive telephone calls criticizing their Democratic congressmen for voting in favor of the energy legislation. The bill passed late last week by a slim 219 to 212 margin, largely along party lines with 44 Democrats joining the GOP leadership in voting against it and eight Republicans crossing over to the Democratic side to support it.

Congress is on break for the Fourth of July holiday this week and most lawmakers are back home meeting with constituents and attending town hall gatherings.

The Democrats being targeted by the NRCC include: Ohio Rep. John Boccieri, Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher, Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley, Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon, Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, Illinois Rep. Deborah Halvorson, Indiana Rep. Baron Hill, Ohio Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, Colorado Rep. Betsy Markey, Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, Arkansas Rep. Vic Snyder, Ohio Rep. Zack Space, and New Mexico Rep. Harry Teague.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The congressional speed reader made his committee debut Thursday - but it looks like his brief taste of the limelight may mark his Capitol Hill swan song.

The top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce committee, Texas Rep. Joe Barton, has been threatening to force the committee clerk to read the 900-plus page bill as a way to drag out the markup of the Democrats' climate change legislation. Worried that this could jeopardize his goal of voting the bill out of committee before the Memorial Day break, Democratic Chairman Henry Waxman of California hired a speed reader, in case one was needed to publicly race through the massive bill.

Barton decided not to follow through on his threat - but he wanted to find out what a speed reader sounded like. He requested that one of the Republican amendments be read in full, and asked that the new hire take over for the full time committee clerk. Waxman obliged, and Douglas Wilder sat before the committee and began reading rapidly. He spoke so quickly it was impossible to decipher his words, as listeners began to laugh and applaud.

Barton decided he'd heard enough, and said he didn't need to finish. He then joked with Waxman, that since he went to all that trouble, "we should at least get the benefit of the gentleman's expertise." Smiling, Waxman asked Wilder to state his name and asked if he was available for hire. Wilder enthusiastically told the committee: "yes!"

WASHINGTON (CNN)– House Democratic aides denied Wednesday that work is already underway on another stimulus package. The push back came a day after Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested more stimulus spending might be needed and the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee said he had already instructed his staff to begin working on a bill.

But multiple Democratic aides told CNN another stimulus plan is not in the works, and they maintained that Democratic leaders believe it will take more time to know whether the first recovery package is effective before taking up another bill.

One leadership aide said that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey got ahead of himself when he told CNN Tuesday evening that his committee was considering another stimulus package, though he had cautioned there was no timeline for moving it.

This aide said House Democratic leaders are letting the current stimulus play out, and that it will be "at least several months, as we get toward the end of the year and see where we are" before they would consider another stimulus bill.

Another Democratic aide said that the Appropriations committee "is not putting pen to paper. We think it's too soon to do [a second stimulus] now."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Democrats hold a strong majority in Congress, but with power comes a power struggle, and a potential headache for President Obama.

Just two days into his term, the president is already facing pushback from leaders of his own party.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have made it clear - it's not their job to answer to Obama.

To a certain degree, the president-Congress tension is simply politics at play - something that happens every time a new president comes in.

But this time, the Democrats have even more power than they did before the election, meaning Pelosi and Reid both have huge majorities in their respective Houses.

Pelosi's biggest problem with the president's agenda is the silence she's hearing when President Obama is asked about former President Bush's tax cuts.

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(CNNMoney.com) - After weeks of talks with President-elect Barack Obama's top aides, House Democrats on Thursday released a summary of an $825 billion economic recovery package that calls for $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion in spending and aid to states.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said on Wednesday that she is more confident that Congress would reach the mid-February deadline for getting a bill to Obama's desk.

Obama is scheduled to promote the bill on Friday in Ohio, where he'll speak with workers at a wind turbine factory. The package calls for $54 billion to double production of alternative energy.

Top economic advisers to Obama have estimated that the stimulus plan they laid out, which is largely reflected in the House Democrats' bill, could create between 3 million and 4 million jobs by 2010 across a broad array of industries.

But members of Obama's team and other economists acknowledge that if close to 4 million jobs are created that won't be a panacea for the economy. Rather, it would lead to a lesser rate of unemployment than would otherwise be the case if there was no economic recovery package.

– CNN congressional producer Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (CNN) – A Democratic lawmaker who won his seat after his predecessor became mired in scandal lost his bid for re-election after becoming embroiled in scandal himself.

Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida's 16th district was defeated by Republican Tom Rooney, a lawyer and former Army officer.

Mahoney recently admitted having two extramarital affairs and paying one woman to keep quiet. He won his seat in 2006 partly by stressing family values after Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned in disgrace. Foley had sent racy Internet messages to male former Capitol Hill pages.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are launching a new communications effort to mark the one year anniversary of their party taking control of the House of Representatives.

Pelosi and her top lieutenants circulated a letter to all Democratic offices on Friday telling them that "The 110th Congress has a great story to tell." And the Democratic leadership is calling on rank-and file Democrats to tout the majority party’s accomplishments over the upcoming holiday recess.

“We need your help telling this story,” the California Democrat and the other party leaders wrote. “At a time when many of us and many Americans feel our country has been moving in the wrong direction, it is critical that we help Americans learn where we stand and what we have accomplished."

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