{"id":39269,"date":"2025-11-05T15:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T15:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/39269\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T15:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T15:08:08","slug":"california-disputes-fmcsa-on-non-domiciled-cdl-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/39269\/","title":{"rendered":"California Disputes FMCSA on Non-Domiciled CDL Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEventually we can pull [California’s] ability to issue commercial driver\u2019s licenses. We will get compliance. They will comply,\u201d Duffy said. (vitpho\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\n November 5, 2025 9:43 AM, EST<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways:\"Toggle
\nCalifornia formally defended its handling of non-domiciled commercial driver licenses as compliant with federal law in an Oct. 26 letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.The FMCSA had warned California it could lose up to $316 million in future federal highway funds for alleged \u201csubstantial noncompliance\u201d in issuing licenses to ineligible drivers.The federal agency is reviewing California\u2019s response as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens escalating funding cuts and potential loss of CDL-issuing authority if the state fails to comply. <\/p>\n

[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

California formally defended its past handling of non-domiciled commercial driver licenses as \u201csubstantially compliant\u201d with federal law, while characterizing a threat to withhold federal grants as inappropriate.<\/p>\n

Steve Gordon, director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, outlined California\u2019s formal response in a 16-page letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Oct. 26.<\/p>\n

FMCSA, through its chief counsel Jesse Elison, put California on notice Sept. 26<\/a> about potentially losing federal grants for \u201csubstantial noncompliance\u201d in adhering to FMCSA regulations in issuing non-domiciled CDLs and commercial license permits.\n \t <\/p>\n

Giving California a 30-day deadline to respond, FMCSA warned the federal government could issue \u201ca final determination of substantial noncompliance\u201d and withhold up to $158 million in fiscal year 2027 funds and double that amount to $316 million in FY 2028 for further noncompliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce funds are withheld following a substantial noncompliance determination, they are no longer available for apportionment to California,\u201d Elison told the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had accused California of having the most \u201cegregious\u201d licensing situation<\/a> of any state, with 25% of its non-domiciled CDLs in violation of federal rules.<\/p>\n

Duffy. (Eric Lee\/Bloomberg)<\/p>\n

After receiving FMCSA\u2019s notice, California conducted a comprehensive audit, reviewing 65,000 records of all non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs. The state found \u201ccertain technical limitations in its systems, and it is duly working toward correcting those issues. However, DMV\u2019s audit also revealed that, despite these technical limitations, its commercial driver\u2019s license issuance policies and practices were substantially compliant with applicable federal requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Gordon acknowledged the state found issues that now are being addressed, the audit \u201cdid not corroborate a substantial failure to comply with relevant federal regulations, and any limitations in DMV\u2019s systems do not justify a withdrawal of federal highway funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Lawmakers Urge DOT Crackdown on Fraudulent CDL Mills<\/a><\/p>\n

Gordon argued that \u201cFMCSA faults DMV and finds noncompliance for practices that were explicitly approved by the Department of Homeland Security. Accordingly, it is not appropriate for FMCSA to withhold federal highway funding or take any other adverse action at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

FMCSA noted its auditors found CDLs and CLPs issued in California to ineligible drivers and also to drivers whose licenses remained valid years beyond the expiration of their legal U.S. residency status.<\/p>\n

Gordon countered this point. He said the DMV found \u201c20,000 non-domiciled CDLs had expiration dates that exceeded their legal presence document, but the majority of these were issued appropriately\u201d through the federal government\u2019s SAVE system and approved according to DHS methodology.<\/p>\n

He told FMCSA that California \u201cintends to fully comply\u201d with Duffy\u2019s emergency rule with tougher non-domiciled CDL requirements when the state is able to restart issuing these licenses. In the meantime, DMV wants to have an informal discussion with FMCSA to create a mutually agreeable schedule for California \u201cto implement corrective measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

(US Department of Transportation via YouTube)<\/p>\n

FMCSA is evaluating California\u2019s response. However, Duffy pointed again to California during an Oct. 30 press conference on states issuing noncompliant CDLs.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is less than cooperative. We\u2019re in a process of going through a review and we have the opportunity to pull $160 million of additional dollars from the state of California. That\u2019s about 4% of the money that we send California from DOT. We\u2019ll be able to pull another 4% and another 4% if they don\u2019t comply,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cEventually we can pull their ability to issue commercial driver\u2019s licenses. We will get compliance. They will comply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duffy announced he would pull $40 million in federal funds from California for failing to enforce a revived English-language proficiency testing<\/a> required for truckers found having questionable abilities to read highway signs and communicate sufficiently with roadside inspectors.<\/p>\n

Want more news? Listen to today’s daily briefing below\u00a0or go here for more info:<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEventually we can pull [California’s] ability to issue commercial driver\u2019s licenses. We will get compliance. They will comply,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,8893,5171,13515,13517,13516,7121],"class_list":["post-39269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-cdl","tag-dhs","tag-dot","tag-elp","tag-fmcsa","tag-sean-duffy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}