USDOT withholds funds over noncompliant licensesCalifornia DMV disputes federal decision, cites public safety riskUSDOT audit finds 25% of foreign-held commercial driver licenses unlawful in California
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Transportation said on Wednesday it is withholding $160 million in federal funds from the state of California for failing to cancel over 17,000 improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses held by non-U.S. citizens.
The department first warned in September it could take action. The department said California had failed to revoke the licenses by the agreed-upon deadline of January 5. The administration of Donald Trump has repeatedly gone after California Governor Gavin Newsom, a harsh critic of the president.
Sign up here.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is fully in compliance with state and federal regulations, a spokesperson said. The agency strongly disagrees “with the federal government’s decision to withhold vital transportation funding from California – their action jeopardizes public safety because these funds are critical for maintaining and improving the roadways we all rely on every day,” the spokesperson said.
The agency added it had engaged in positive conversations about extending the January 5 cancellation date to allow additional time for the federal government to review the department’s commercial driver’s license program.
The department said an audit showed more than 25% of commercial truck driver licenses issued to non-U.S. residents by California were unlawful.
“We will not accept a corrective plan that knowingly leaves thousands of drivers holding noncompliant licenses behind the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks in open defiance of federal safety regulations,” said Derek Barrs, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a California Democrat, criticized the decision to withhold funding for highway safety, road mantainence and law enforcement training, saying it was “driven by retribution for Californians exercising their constitutional rights in voting overwhelmingly against Trump’s chaos.”
Last month, California sued USDOT for withholding more than $33 million in federal funding after USDOT said the state failed to comply with rules requiring English proficiency for truck drivers. California dropped a separate suit in December that it filed after USDOT rescinded $4 billion in high-speed rail funding.
Trump has taken a series of steps to address concerns about foreign truck drivers who do not speak English. In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was immediately pausing the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
In September, the USDOT issued emergency rules to drastically restrict commercial driver licenses to non-U.S. citizens after a fatal crash in Florida. Trump has regularly threatened funding for large cities run by Democrats, including for major infrastructure projects in Chicago and New York, and over commercial driver licenses issued to non-U.S. residents by Minnesota, New York and California. The Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in 2023 that about 16% of U.S. truck drivers were born outside the United States.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel and Christian Schmollinger
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab