Wisconsin Rep. David Obey, one of the most powerful members of Congress as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has scheduled a "major announcement" for 1 p.m., Obey's staff tells RealClearPolitics.

The announcement will take place at a press conference in an Appropriations hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The AP reports that announcement will be that Obey is not seeking re-election.

Obey is facing relatively low polling numbers for someone of his stature and tenure. He's also being challenged by a highly touted Republican recruit, Ashland County District Attorney Sean Duffy.

The congressman was first elected to Congress in an April 1969 special election, and has been re-elected fairly easily ever since. His closest re-election race came in the Republican year of 1994, when he took just 54 percent of the vote. Democrats could be facing an equally hostile political environment in 2010.