Over at Bloomberg, I write that Republicans shouldn’t “prove they can govern” so much as they should prepare to govern in 2017.

Now that Republicans are in control of both chambers of Congress, what should they do?
“Prove they can govern,” says a CNN headline. “Show they can govern,” suggests the New York Times. “Prove that we can govern with maturity,” offers Senator Cory Gardner.
Different people mean different things by that phrase. Some of them merely mean that Republicans, having control of Congress, should avoid doing things that make the party look immature, irresponsible or incompetent. That’s surely true, and an important contribution that congressional Republicans can make to their party’s future success.
Others, though, appear to mean that Republicans have to show that they can get a lot of their bills into law. If that’s the test, I can tell you the results already: The Republican Party can’t govern the country during the next two years. Modern America can’t be governed from Capitol Hill because the executive branch has too much power. . . .