White House Defends Obama’s Travels During Super-Committee Negotiations

The so-called super committee will be busy with final negotiations while President Obama travels to Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia and the White House says President Obama will be getting updates on what is happening.

He likely won't be receiving extra briefings, but the latest on the super committee meetings will be a part of his regular updates he gets while he is traveling.

Obama is going to Hawaii first for the APEC summit, then Australia for a re-scheduled trip from last year, and then Bali, Indonesia for the East Asia Summit. He leaves Friday for the week-long trip that will have a heavy emphasis on jobs and national security, which the White house says fits right into the president's number priority - jobs.

"All the themes that we talk about domestically -- our ability to compete, our ability to create good-paying jobs, our ability to invest in the industries of the future -- all of that is going to be directly related to U.S. leadership in this particular part of the world," said Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes.

In addition to the super-committee talks, Congress will also be working on appropriation bills.

Rhodes also noted scheduling for these major summits happens months in advance.

Obama was intimately involved with heated debt negotiations over the summer. Part of the final deal he reached included that a "super committee" of bi-partisan lawmakers would have to reach a deal by November 23, or automatic cuts, or triggers, would immediately be put in place.

One of the "triggers" includes steep defense cuts.

This has reportedly been a concern from some allies in the region.

"I do think this will be a topic throughout the trip, in which the president will be providing assurance that the U.S. is going to continue to play its role within the Asia-Pacific region, and that we see both our defense commitments and our commitments to our allies as indispensable to the United States and to the Asia-Pacific region more broadly," Rhodes said.

He added that even in this economy, the U.S. will posture strength and stability for democracy, " I think there will be a theme of strong reassurance from the president that we're going to continue to play that role, even in a time of addressing fiscal consolidation and deficit reduction here at home," Rhodes said.

Obama will be back for the final week ahead of the 23rd deadline, however much of the details have to be done earlier so that the Congressional Budget Office can score it.

The president previously had to postpone his trips to Australia and Indonesia last year due to the BP oil spill and health care negotiations.