Vice President Pence was scheduled to leave Tuesday, arriving in Egypt on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and from there was scheduled to visit Israel before traveling to Germany to meet with U.S. troops stationed there. Pence's office said Monday that the trip was being delayed so he can stay in Washington until votes on the tax cut legislation are completed. He is now expected to travel to the Middle East during the week of Jan. 14, according to senior White House officials. His trip has been complicated because of the uproar in the Middle East over President Trump's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Earlier this month Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not meet with Pence on his trip because of this announcement. The Jerusalem decision — which included eventually moving the U.S. Embassy there — sparked widespread opposition among Christians in the Middle East and complicated another aspect of Pence's trip. The pope of the Egyptian Coptic church, who leads the largest Christian denomination in the Middle East, also canceled his planned meeting in Cairo with the vice president. | 
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