After the 2020 election, Joe Biden and Democrats mistook a narrow presidential victory—and a loss of seats in the House—as a mandate for a sweeping progressive agenda that they couldn’t possibly pass, let alone make work. Two years later, two-thirds of Americans believe that the country is going in the wrong direction thanks to raging inflation, high crime rates and a border crisis.

Republicans narrowly won control of the House as a result. GOP leadership should learn a lesson from the last two years and focus on what they can plausibly get done rather than raise expectations. A promise to repeal the massive IRS expansion on Day One, for instance, could fuel voter cynicism when reality intrudes and Republicans fail to meet their own boasts.

Voters gave Republicans only enough authority to stop excesses from Biden and other Democrats for the next two years, and to investigate all of the improprieties of the previous two. 

Stick to those promises, and voters may well expand their mandate in 2024.