U.S. President Barack Obama is likely to delay the start of his vacation to help several of his key legislative goals pass Congress before the end of the year, the White House said on Monday. “The president will be here as long as Congress is here,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, adding that it was likely that Obama would remain in Washington as late as next week. Obama is tentatively scheduled to depart on Saturday for Hawaii, where the family traditionally spends its year-end vacation. However, Obama could postpone his trip since lawmakers continue to debate the extension of Bush-era tax cuts and a new nuclear weapons deal. Congress is debating a $858 billion package of measures to keep income taxes low and extend unemployment benefits, as well as ratifying a new START nuclear weapons treaty that Obama has said is vital to U.S. relations with Russia.
