President Barack Obama has cancelled his first trip to Malaysia and the Philippines next week due to the current US government shutdown.
The White House said that President Obama would skip stops in Malaysia and the Philippines when he travels to Asia next week because of the partial shutdown of the federal government.
Obama personally called Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino to inform them about his decision to cancel his trip.
However, Obama is still scheduled to leave on Saturday night for Asian economic summits in Indonesia and Brunei.
The trip is an important part of Obama's effort to strengthen US foreign policy in Asia.
The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry will visit the Philippines and Malaysia instead of the President.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that "logistically, it was not possible to go ahead with these trips in the face of a government shutdown."
"President Obama's travel to Malaysia and the Philippines has been postponed. Because they are on the back end of the president's upcoming trip, our personnel was not yet in place and we were not able to go forward with planning," she said.
"We will continue to evaluate those trips based on how events develop throughout the course of the week," Hayden said.
"For the sake of our national security and economic prosperity, we urge Congress to reopen the government," she said.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, "Obama called this morning and informed me that he has to cancel his visit to Malaysia due to events transpiring in the United States, which has caused a partial shutdown of the government."
A political deadlock in Washington over Obama's healthcare plan, which is opposed by the Republicans, has led to the current crisis.
The US Congress will decide on October 17 on whether to raise the USD 16.7 trillion debt ceiling or scramble to find the cash.
Failure to agree on a rise in the US government's borrowing authority would force the US to default on some payment obligations.
