Obama delays Asia trip to focus on on health care

Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post

Michael D. Shear and Lori Montgomery

President Obama has delayed his upcoming trip to Asia by three days to remain in Washington for what could be the climax of his year-long battle for health-care reform, his press secretary announced via Twitter this morning.

White House officials have been pushing the House of Representatives to vote on the Senate's health care measure by March 18, when Obama was set to take off for a week-long excursion to Guam, Indonesia and Australia. He now will leave March 21 instead.

Top Democratic lawmakers had publicly and privately expressed increasing doubt that they could meet the March 18 deadline, and press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged Thursday that the administration understood that the vote could be pushed back by a few days.

"The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia - will now leave Sunday - the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip," Gibbs tweeted Friday morning. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha had been scheduled to join the president's trip.

The announcement represents the third time Obama has delayed travel in part because of the ongoing fight over health care. He postponed his trip to China in November because of the Fort Hood shootings and health-care votes. And he was late leaving for his vacation in Hawaii as lawmakers raced to pass health bills before Christmas.

Obama has struggled to get Congress to pass a health-care bill, which was his top legislative priority upon taking office. Under the latest plan, which was still being developed this week, the House would accept the version of health-care reform that the Senate approved on Christmas Eve, with the promise that Congress would adopt adjustments to the new law soon after.

The process of moving the legislation through the House and Senate is expected to begin Monday in the House Budget Committee. That would put the bill on the floor for a final vote on March 19 or 20.

A senior White House official said Friday morning that the president wants to be present for the final push. An overseas presidential trip effectively moves the White House and much of its senior staff far away from Washington.

Congressional aides said Friday that House leaders hope to pass a reconciliation package through the House Budget Committee on Monday, then take it to the Rules Committee 72 hours later. During that period, lawmakers would have a chance to review the package with the Senate parliamentarian to ensure that it can clear myriad procedural hurdles.

Barring major obstacles, House leaders hope to put both the Senate bill and the reconciliation package on the floor late next week.

"That's my hope," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Friday.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of House leadership, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is optimistic about moving the bills quickly through the lower chamber.

"I do believe momentum is in the right direction. People are eager to move on this," Van Hollen said late Thursday. "Do people have concerns they want addressed? Yes. But here's a growing sentiment that we need to complete action on health care."

In addition to fundamental questions about whether insurance would truly be affordable under the legislation, remaining issues to be resolved in the House include abortion, immigration and the status of an independent board that the Senate bill would empower to cut spending on Medicare.

House Democrats were meeting Friday morning to address those issues, and Pelosi has scheduled a news conference at 11 a.m.

The trip to Indonesia and Australia has been billed as an effort to deepen relationships in East Asia as China attempts to extend its economic and diplomatic influence across the region. The president was also expected to give a speech about the importance of reaching out to Islam; Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

But the trip -- which was scheduled during his daughters' school vacation -- is also a personal pilgrimage of sorts. Obama spent several years living in Indonesia as a youth, and his mother worked in the country for much of her life. Obama had said that during the course of the trip, he was looking forward to showing his two girls the places where he grew up.

Officials had already fought against the notion that the trip was largely a personal one. Asked Thursday whether the trip was basically a vacation, Gibbs said, "It's not a vacation at all."

In addition to the speech, Obama is planning meetings with Indonesian and Australian leaders, a visit to Bali and a speech to troops in Guam. Without his family in tow, it is not clear whether he will go to any childhood haunts.