 The agency had already survived two decades' worth of efforts to shut it down. Congress finally ended the board's oversight of tea imports a year later, but the Federal Board of Tea Experts technically still existed for another 27 years, with a budget and everything like that, and was officially terminated this past September. Wow. The bizarre history and surprising longevity of the Federal Tea Tasting Board is something of a mixed bag for anyone who wants to see more federal programs iced for good.