WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Indonesia and Australia next week to stay home and focus on his final push for a healthcare overhaul, White House officials said on Friday.
Obama, who had been scheduled to leave on March 18 on his first overseas travel of the year, plans to depart instead on March 21, the officials said.
The decision to delay the trip comes as Obama presses his fellow Democrats for a quick final vote on healthcare reform, which has ignited a long-running political brawl with Republican opponents and consumed Congress for the past nine months.
Congressional leaders, who have repeatedly missed deadlines for finishing the overhaul, had resisted the White House target of completing work before Obama's originally planned departure overseas next Thursday.
"The president will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia - will now leave Sunday," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a message on twitter.com.
He said first lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters, who had been due to accompany the president, "will not be on the trip."
Obama now intends to return to Washington on March 26 instead of his original plan for March 24, officials said.
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