Duffy Threatens To Strip California Of Ability To Issue Commercial Driver’s Licenses

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Oct. 23 that California could lose its ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses and risk losing more funding if it fails to comply with federal transportation rules.

The Transportation Department has already withheld more than $40 million in funding from California after an investigation found that the state had not met federal English-language proficiency standards for truck drivers, Duffy said in a post on X.

Harjinder Singh is escorted onto an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement in Stockton, Calif., on Aug. 21, 2025. AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy

In an interview with Fox News aired on Oct. 23, Duffy threatened to pull another $160 million from California if it refused to adhere to federal regulations governing the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses.

“I’m doing a quick review of [the state’s] lack of compliance for our rules. I have the ability and I’m going to pull almost another $160 million,” Duffy said.

“And then I have the ability for California to say, listen, you don’t follow any of these rules that keep Americans safe, we’re going to revoke your ability to issue a commercial driver’s license.”

As The Epoch Times’ Aldgra Fredly reports below, in a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom dated Sept. 26, the department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) stated that its investigation found that California had issued commercial driver’s licenses to nondomiciled drivers that were valid beyond the expiration of their work authorization in the country.

The agency required that California implement corrective measures, warning that failure to do so could result in the loss of certain federal highway funds and the decertification of the state’s commercial driver’s licensing program.

The state was ordered to pause issuance of commercial driver’s licenses to nondomiciled drivers, identify all unexpired nondomiciled drivers who failed to comply with federal regulations, and conduct an internal audit to identify procedural and programming errors in the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses, among other requirements.

The Epoch Times reached out to Newsom’s office for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.

The department initiated an investigation into California’s compliance with federal safety rules following a fatal crash in Florida on Aug. 12 that involved a semi-truck driver who illegally entered the United States in 2018 through the southern border.

The truck driver, identified as Harjinder Singh, an Indian national, allegedly made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike on Aug. 12, causing a minivan to collide with his commercial semi-truck. All three of the minivan’s occupants were killed in the crash.

Singh was issued a commercial driver’s license in July 2024 by California, despite being in the country illegally. He had also obtained a full-term commercial driver’s license in Washington state in July 2023. Singh also did not pass English-language and road tests, according to officials.

On Oct.23, federal immigration authorities filed an arrest order for an Indian national who is alleged to have killed three people in California while driving a semi-truck under the influence of drugs. The incident occurred on Oct. 21.

Three people died instantly in the accident, and several others were injured, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

ICE lodged an arrest detainer on Oct. 22 for Jashanpreet Singh, 21, who they said is “a criminal illegal alien from India.”

The Trump administration paused the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers on Aug. 21, stating that the increasing number of foreign drivers was “endangering American lives” and undercutting jobs for American truckers.

California’s Department of Transportation issued an emergency ruling last month that prohibits the state from issuing or renewing limited-term legal commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.