WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, is withholding approximately $160 million from the State of California for failing to cancel more than 17,000 illegally issued Commercial Driver's Licenses by the agreed-upon deadline of January 5.
The FMCSA issued a Final Determination after California refused to cancel the licenses on time, allowing foreign drivers with invalid licenses to continue operating on American roads.
'It's reckoning day for Gavin Newsom and California. Our demands were simple: follow the rules, revoke the unlawfully-issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers, and fix the system so this never happens again,' said Secretary Duffy. 'Gavin Newsom has failed to do so - putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people. While Gavin may not care about protecting you and your family on our roads, the Trump Administration does. We're pulling this funding to ensure federal tax dollars don't fund this charade.'
As part of the Secretary's Nationwide Non-Domiciled CDL Audit, FMCSA uncovered a systemic collapse of California's non-domiciled CDL program, which allowed the state to illegally issue licenses with expiration dates extending years beyond a driver's lawful presence and to grant CDLs to individuals who were ineligible to hold them. In total, more than 20,000 active non-domiciled CDLs were issued by California in violation of federal safety regulations, according to the Department of Transportation.
It noted that in November, California agreed to revoke every illegally issued license within 60 days and work with FMCSA so the agency could verify that the failures that allowed these licenses to be issued are corrected.
California has failed to do so. In response, FMCSA will withhold nearly $160 million of funds from California via the National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Block Grant, the Department said.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
