(MCT) — HONOLULU — President Barack Obama will leave for Washington on Wednesday evening to restart talks on averting the “fiscal cliff,” the White House said Tuesday, interrupting and perhaps cutting short altogether his traditional holiday visit to his birth state.

Obama’s last contact with congressional leaders was Friday, when he met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and spoke by phone with House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. In a statement to reporters before departing for Hawaii, the president called on all parties to use the Christmas holiday period to “cool off,” and he indicated that he would be back in town when Congress reconvenes Thursday.