HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday the administration's health care website needed a couple of hundred fixes when it went online more than a month ago and conceded, "we're not there yet" in making all needed repairs.

Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the government's health care website has improved since its widely panned launch a month ago, and is still improving.

A senior government official declined to say Tuesday if the administration will support legislation to fulfill President Barack Obama's oft-stated promise that anyone who likes their health care plan will be able to keep it under the nation's new law.

House Democrats are worried about persistent problems with the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law and one says the president needs to "man up" and fire those responsible.

President Barack Obama is making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown.

The government limped into a third day of partial shutdown Thursday with no sign of a way out after a White House conversation between President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders seemed only to harden the stances of Democrats and Republicans.

The Democratic-run Senate has approved legislation aimed at preventing a Tuesday federal shutdown.

A potential government shutdown hurtling ever closer, the Democratic-led Senate moved Friday toward approving legislation keeping federal agencies from locking their doors on Tuesday.