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\n January 29, 2026 11:06 AM, EST<\/p>\n
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\n CATA originally filed its lawsuit against California DMV and director Steve Gordon and FMCSA and Administrator Derek Barrs.The court action asserted some CATA members have valid California non-domiciled CDLs that will soon expire and cannot be renewed due to the pause, \u200b FMCSA recently permanently took back $158 million in highway funding from California for failing to revoke illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs by Jan. 5. <\/p>\n
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox<\/a>.]<\/p>\n A federal judge refused a request by Chinese American truckers to force the California Department of Motor Vehicles<\/a> to resume issuing non-domiciled commercial driver licenses.<\/p>\n Judge Jesus G. Bernal in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Jan. 20 denied an emergency motion sought eight days earlier by attorney Michael Chen on behalf of a group called the Chinese American Truckers Association.\n \t \t\t<\/p>\n Originally, CATA brought a case against the California DMV and its director, Steve Gordon,<\/a> in his official capacity, as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Derek Barrs in his role as agency administrator.<\/p>\n CATA had challenged both the FMCSA\u2019s regulatory enforcement<\/a> halting California\u2019s issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and the DMV\u2019s subsequent pause. The court action asserted that some of its members have valid California non-domiciled CDLs that will soon expire and cannot be renewed due to the pause, while others cannot replace their lost or stolen valid licenses.\n \t\t<\/p>\n CATA dropped the action against FMCSA after the agency refuted in a 21-page court document several legal issues contained in the court request. FMCSA said the plaintiffs \u201cchallenged the wrong agency actions in the wrong court\u201d when any such request should have been put before a court of appeals. Another legal action against FMCSA<\/a> for revised non-domiciled CDLs is stalled in U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n The agency also took issue with CATA including FMCSA when it sought court \u201crelief\u201d to force the issuance of new non-domiciled licenses when only states, like the California DMV, can issue CDLs since FMCSA does not issue driver licenses.<\/p>\n CATA then revised its request to only target the California DMV.<\/p>\n The California Attorney General\u2019s office represented the DMV and Gordon. It told the court about the ongoing tussle between the state and FMCSA over non-domiciled CDLs, issuance problems and FMCSA threats for noncompliance with federal regulations.<\/p>\n Deputy Attorney General Jay C. Russell said the requested order sought to renew or extend expiring and\/or lost non-domiciled licenses but omitted mentioning CDL holders, whose licenses DMV determined were deficient under California law. After a federal audit, the state identified 17,000 illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs. FMCSA recently permanently took back $158 million in highway funding from California for failing to revoke these licenses by Jan. 5.<\/p>\n
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