Obama cancels trips to Asia due to govt. shutdown

Obama told the leaders he was committed to visiting Malaysia and the Philippines later in his term, according to the White House.
 
As late as Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney was evasive on whether the president would make the planned trip to Southeast Asia next week.
 
Carney wouldn't say whether international travel was logistically possible under a shutdown, saying simply the White House was hopeful the impasse would be resolved before then.
 
"The logistics of that are best addressed to the agencies involved," Carney said.
 
Obama was also scheduled to travel to Indonesia, where he lived for a few years growing up, and Brunei from Oct. 6 to 12.
 
GOP leadership decided on Tuesday to advance smaller spending resolutions as a way to ease the impact of the government shutdown that started earlier in the day. But Democrats held out against this tactic, and most voted against bills that would have funded the District of Columbia, veterans programs and national parks in order to keep up pressure for a comprehensive spending package.
 
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the piecemeal strategy would allow Republicans to pick and choose which parts of the government to fund, which she compared to a slow release of hostages.
 
"They took hostages by shutting down the government," Pelosi said. "Now they're releasing one hostage at a time."