Obama delays Asia trip to focus on health-care bill

WASHINGTON — President Obama has delayed his upcoming trip to Asia by three days to remain in Washington for what could be the climax of his yearlong battle for health-care overhaul, his press secretary announced via Twitter on Friday.

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 weeklong excursion to Guam, Indonesia and Australia. He now will leave March 21.

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 the administration understood the vote could be pushed back by a few days.

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 the Senate approved on Christmas Eve, with the promise 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 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 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 Hoyer, D-Md., said Friday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she was "delighted" Obama had pushed back his trip. When the House takes a final vote on health care, "It's going to be historic," she said.

But Pelosi said she could not commit to a specific date for final passage until the Congressional Budget Office delivers a final cost estimate. That will set in motion a delicate series of procedural maneuvers to bring the health-care package to the House floor.

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.