Former Agencies

Agencies that have been abolished, merged, or renamed, and what became of their work.

Atomic Energy Commission Dissolved

The civilian commission that controlled U.S. nuclear weapons production and promoted and regulated nuclear power from 1947 until it was split in two in 1975

Bureau of the Budget Merged

The agency created in 1921 to prepare a single annual budget for the President, which moved into the White House in 1939 and was reorganized into the Office of Management and Budget in 1970

Civil Aeronautics Board Dissolved

The independent agency that controlled airline fares, routes, and market entry from 1940 until airline deregulation led to its closure in 1985

Civilian Conservation Corps Dissolved

The New Deal program that put about 3 million young men to work planting trees, fighting erosion, and building parks from 1933 to 1942

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Merged

The cabinet department created in 1953 for federal health, education, and social welfare programs, split in 1979 into the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education

Department of War Dissolved

The original cabinet department for the Army, created in 1789 and replaced in 1947 by the Department of the Army within the new national military establishment

Federal Radio Commission Dissolved

The commission created in 1927 to bring order to crowded radio airwaves by licensing stations, which was replaced by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934

Federal Security Agency Merged

The non-cabinet agency that gathered Social Security, public health, education, and food and drug programs from 1939 until it became the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953

Freedmen's Bureau Dissolved

The Reconstruction agency that aided formerly enslaved people with food, schools, labor contracts, and legal help in the South from 1865 to 1872

Immigration and Naturalization Service Dissolved

The federal agency that admitted immigrants, patrolled the borders, deported noncitizens, and naturalized new citizens until its functions were split up in 2003

Interstate Commerce Commission Dissolved

The nation's first independent regulatory agency, which regulated railroads and later trucking from 1887 until Congress abolished it in 1995

Minerals Management Service Dissolved

The Interior Department agency that leased offshore oil and gas, regulated drilling, and collected mineral royalties until it was broken up after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster

Office of Economic Opportunity Dissolved

The War on Poverty agency in the Executive Office of the President that launched Head Start, Job Corps, VISTA, and community action programs from 1964 to 1975

Office of Strategic Services Dissolved

The World War II intelligence and special operations agency that ran espionage and sabotage behind enemy lines and was the forerunner of the CIA

Office of Technology Assessment Dissolved

The congressional agency that gave lawmakers nonpartisan analysis of science and technology from 1972 until Congress defunded it in 1995

Post Office Department Dissolved

The cabinet department that ran the mail for nearly two centuries, from Benjamin Franklin's appointment in 1775 until it became the self-supporting U.S. Postal Service in 1971

U.S. Agency for International Development Merged

The federal agency that ran most U.S. foreign aid for more than six decades until the administration moved its remaining functions into the State Department in 2025

U.S. Bureau of Mines Dissolved

The Interior Department research agency, created after deadly mine disasters, that studied mine safety, mineral resources, and helium from 1910 until Congress closed it in 1996

U.S. Civil Service Commission Dissolved

The bipartisan commission created in 1883 to replace patronage with merit hiring in federal jobs, which ran the civil service until 1978

U.S. Customs Service Merged

The Treasury agency that collected tariffs on imports from 1789, long the federal government's main source of revenue, until it was merged into Homeland Security in 2003

U.S. Information Agency Merged

The Cold War public diplomacy agency that ran Voice of America, American libraries abroad, and exchanges such as the Fulbright Program from 1953 to 1999

War Production Board Dissolved

The World War II agency that directed the conversion of American industry to war production and allocated scarce materials from 1942 to 1945

Works Progress Administration Dissolved

The largest New Deal jobs program, which employed millions of Americans to build roads, schools, and parks and fund art and writing from 1935 to 1943