New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is in Washington, D.C., for meetings with the nation’s governors this weekend. But he’s taking a pass on a dinner Sunday at the White House — despite his public embrace of the president after 2012′s Superstorm Sandy and the criticism he got from Republicans for their warm interaction just before the election.

Instead, the governor, who’s been haunted by the George Washington Bridge lane closures scandal and the two investigations, will return home Sunday to celebrate his daughter Sarah’s 18th birthday.

A Christie aide tells ABC News the governor will participate in events for both the National Governors Association, which is holding their annual Winter Meeting this weekend at the J.W. Marriott, and the Republican Governors Association, for which he serves as chairman. On Friday he is attending a series of RGA committee meetings, executive roundtable events, donor meetings, as well as the evening’s reception.