They also say the president's not asking lawmakers to save his skin either, while the White House insists that no special favors in exchange for votes are being offered or accepted.

The president has pushed aside almost all other matters, including a long-planned Asia trip, now rescheduled for June, to try to embolden House Democrats who have wavered on the health care legislation, which he has championed for a year.

Barack Obama has cancelled a much-anticipated visit to Indonesia scheduled for next week, deciding to stay in Washington instead to prepare for a final push for an overhaul of the US healthcare system.

The March 21-26 tour, the US president's first foreign trip this year, included a visit to Australia, and was to deepen US ties in the Asia-Pacific region.

Announcing that the trip was off, Gibbs Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Obama "greatly regrets the delay" and felt he had no other choice.

President Barack Obama again postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia, this time putting it off until June so that he can be in Washington as Democrats in Congress try to pass a health care reform bill, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced Thursday.

Obama had already delayed his trip once and was planning to leave Sunday, but the House health care vote now is expected Sunday as well. Gibbs said the president didn't want to risk having to cancel at the last minute.

United States President Barack Obama has scrapped next week's trip to Australia and Indonesia as he wages a last ditch political battle over his healthcare reforms.

The White House has announced the presidential visit has been rescheduled to June and says Mr Obama "deeply regrets" the delay.

But analysts say the postponement of the trip comes as no surprise, because his presidency is hanging in the balance.

(Adds remarks on trade by Immelt in 16th paragraph, Cha in 17th, Gibbs in final paragraph.)

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama postponed a planned trip to Indonesia and Australia for a second time to keep up pressure on Congress to act on his health-care plan this weekend, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

“Passage of health insurance reform is of paramount importance and the president is determined to see this battle through,” Gibbs said.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can stay in Washington for a possible Sunday vote on his health care overhaul plan.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday the president is disappointed and regrets having to delay his visits to Indonesia and Australia but has told the leaders of those nations that health care is a crucial priority.

"The president believes right now the place for him to be is in Washington seeing this through," Gibbs said.

With the weather finally warming up in the capital after a long, snowy winter, the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, joked during his regular press briefing the other day that, "like class, we should move this outside.''

The White House schedule for Thursday says that Mr. Gibbs will conduct his briefing in a spot ordinarily reserved for the president: the Rose Garden.

And, in fact, President Obama will also make an appearance amid the roses Thursday, for a ceremony to sign a bill intended to spur employment by providing businesses with incentives to hire new workers

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is taking his health care pitch directly to Fox News viewers.

The White House on Tuesday said Obama would speak with anchor Bret Baier for his Wednesday program. Obama is in the middle of his final, aggressive push for a health care overhaul he wants completed before leaving for Australia and Indonesia on Sunday.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama wants to speak to as many people as possible about the potential benefits of his top domestic priority.

WASHINGTON | The House's chief Democratic head-counter said Sunday that he hadn't rounded up enough votes to pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul heading into a make-or-break week.

Rep. James Clyburn's statement came even as the White House's top political adviser said he was “absolutely confident” in the legislation's prospects.

The administration gave signs of retreating on its demands that senators jettison special home-state deals sought by individual lawmakers.

In the final crunch on health care reform legislation, there are serious questions for President Obama. Does he have the votes to pass it? If the legislation passes, who will be helped by it? And who will pay for it?

The White House and Democrats say they'll have the votes to pass health care toward the end of the week, though the Democratic vote counter, James Clyburn (D-S.C.), has said he doesn't yet have the votes to pass legislation.

Reporting from Washington Senior White House officials predicted Sunday that President Obama's healthcare initiative will pass the House this week and warned Republicans that if they make it an issue in November elections, they do so at their own political peril.

"We're happy to have the 2010 elections be about the achievement of healthcare reform," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. "That's a debate I think we're obviously comfortable having."

The White House is beginning its final push on health care this week, with senior adviser David Axelrod and press secretary Robert Gibbs making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to express confidence that the bill will pass.

"We'll have the votes when the House votes, I think, within the next week," Gibbs said on "Fox News Sunday." "Whoever sits here at this time next week, I think will not be talking about health care as a proposal, but as the law of the land."

this fall's 2010 midterm election. "we're happy to have the 2010 elections be about the achievement of health care reform. that's a debate i think we're obviously comfortable having," white house press secretary robert gibbs said on "fox news sunday

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that she will seek passage this week of legislation overhauling the health-care system after President Barack Obama delayed the start of his trip to Asia until March 21.

Obama's altered itinerary will enable him to talk with any wavering Democratic lawmakers and help Pelosi forge a majority in the House to pass a Senate-approved bill along with a package of changes to remove provisions that are objectionable to some members of her caucus.

Guest lineup for today's TV news shows:

•ABC's “This Week,” 9:30 a.m. - White House senior adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican.

•CBS' “Face the Nation,” 1 a.m. Monday - White House press secretary Robert Gibbs; Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Democrat; Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, claiming that momentum is building for a historic overhaul of the nation's health insurance system, on Friday postponed a trip to Asia so he can stay in the capital next week to twist arms in Congress.

Democrats in Congress said they didn't yet have the votes locked up to pass the legislation, but they were growing more confident that they could get a package through. ``We're in a good place,'' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

and senate democrats told fox news late friday. that assessment confirms that the white house and democratic leaders so far lack the votes to pass health care in the house. and it undercuts somewhat the declaration friday from press secretary robert

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.

President Obama has pushed back his trip to Indonesia for three days to work with beleaguered Democrats on trying to wrap up a health care overhaul.

The president was expected to leave Thursday for the six-day tour that included Guam and Australia. He has pushed it back until next Sunday.

The White House made the announcement on Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' Twitter.

"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.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has presented the rebuttal argument in Obama v. Supreme Court.

Roberts's remarks Tuesday protested the timing of President Obama's State of the Union disapproval of the court's decision in a major campaign finance case. It has begun Round Two in what appears to be a growing inclination from the White House and Democrats in Congress to criticize the court's decisions.