President Obama said he was humbled by the “shellacking” Democrats took in Tuesday’s congressional elections, and signaled a willingness to negotiate with Republicans on his top legislative agenda items, including tax cuts, energy policy and his much-maligned health care reforms.

“Over the last two years, we’ve made progress,” Obama said at an East Room news conference Wednesday. “But, clearly, too many Americans haven’t felt that progress yet, and they told us that yesterday. And as president, I take responsibility for that.”