、、。
But even before being crushed by the Reagan administration and the Supreme Court, OSHA was a farce.
Literal
But, Reagan administration [and-と] Supreme Court [by-に] be-crushed before [even-でさえ], OSHA [topic-は] farce was.
Political critique in written register. The construction ~でさえ attached to 前 ('before') gives 'even before X' — でさえ is the emphatic form of さえ, meaning 'even (going so far as).' The passive 潰される ('be crushed') is here in its non-past dictionary form inside a 前 ('before') clause, which requires the dictionary form regardless of actual tense. 茶番 (ちゃばん) is a wonderful word for 'farce,' 'sham performance' — it literally refers to a kind of comedic interlude in kabuki theater, now figurative for any spectacle that pretends to be serious but isn't. The archaic copula であった (past of である) holds the formal tone.