Nothing in life is assured, but Rep. Jeff Miller’s Wednesday eruption against Veterans Affairs officials’ evasion of simple questions about waste and incompetence in their department could mean a prominent place for him in the history books.

Here’s why: For decades, Congresses under majorities of both parties have repeatedly passed grandly worded laws creating new federal departments, agencies and programs, then left the hard work of shaping them to unelected, unaccountable executive branch bureaucrats.