Interstate Commerce Commission Abolishment (1995)
The ICC was the federal government's first independent regulatory commission, created in 1887 to regulate railroads. It grew into a powerful agency with broad authority over transportation. By the 1970s, deregulation movements targeted it as outdated and bureaucratic. Congress passed legislation gradually stripping its powers through the 1980s. In 1995, Congress voted to abolish it entirely, transferring remaining functions to the Surface Transportation Board.
Agency functions transferred to smaller entity without major disruption to transportation regulation.
Became the template for how to properly eliminate a federal agency: through legislation, not executive fiat.
The ICC precedent shows that abolishing federal agencies requires congressional approval—exactly what Trump is trying to bypass with USAID.