Amid Obamacare rush, government says 'don't worry': Is Obama to blame?

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have spent the days leading up to Christmas trying to navigate the HealthCare.gov website - with varying degrees of success.

With the deadline to sign up for President Obama's key legislative fast approaching, the government announced they would again extend the deadline.

In a statement released by the White House late Monday, administration officials said technical issues in October and November would force them to find ways to allow people interested in signing up to do so.

'Our highest priority is making sure that everyone who wants to enroll to have health care coverage by Jan. 1 is able to do so, particularly since consumers had a hard time accessing HealthCare.gov in October and November,' Julie Bataille, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. 'As such, we are making sure we can provide information directly to consumers if and when they have questions about their particular situation, and if they are covered as of Jan. 1.'

The extension comes as the federal health care website received 2 million visits on Monday, and heavy - but not as heavy - traffic on Tuesday. A White House spokeswoman said there was no immediate estimate of visitors or how many succeeded in obtaining insurance before the deadline.

According to administration officials, the extension will affect residents in 36 states that rely on the federal site for signing up, and the District of Columbia, which uses its own site to sign up. Fourteen states have their own deadlines, and a handful have announced similar extensions.

The extension is the latest challenge facing the administration as it continues to pursue its roll out of the controversial health care law. Top Republicans have taken to criticizing the administration handling of the issue, calling on President Obama and top Democrats to reconsider its implementation.

However, President Obama has taken to the airwaves to push back again criticism and to offer a personal apology for the issues encountered by millions of Americans seeking to enter the health care exchanges.

The announcement comes as President Obama announced on Monday that he had signed up for health care insurance through the site. While the president will not actually rely on the health care package, the White House called it a symbolic show of Obama's support for the fledgling exchanges.