Association of American Railroads v. United States Department of Transportation

Opinion of the Court by Circuit Judge BROWN.

BROWN, Circuit Judge:

With the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, Congress created Amtrak, a for-profit corporation indirectly controlled-by the President of the United States. This public venture into private enterprise was, -and rémains, unprecedented. With the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), Congress piled anomaly on top of anomaly. See 122 Stat. 4907. It endowed this wholly unique statutory creature with agency powers, authorizing it to regulate its resource competitors. See PRIIA § 207(a). It further permitted,…