The Trump administration is pulling millions in federal funding from California over the state’s purported failure to revoke unlawfully issued commercial driver’s licenses.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is withholding roughly $160 million from California for not cancelling more than 17,000 illegally issued Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) in time, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. California DMV officials had originally agreed with DOT officials to nix the licenses by Jan. 5, but later extended this deadline to March following a lawsuit.
The DOT, which has heavily cracked down on illegal migrant truck drivers in recent months, declared that this extension is unacceptable.
“It’s reckoning day for Gavin Newsom and California,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a prepared statement. “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.”
“Gavin Newsom has failed to do so – putting the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people,” Duffy continued. “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.”
In response to the funding cut, California officials argued that the Trump administration indicated it was open to a deadline extension.
“We strongly disagree 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,” a spokesperson for the California DMV said in a statement provided to the DCNF.
“The DMV is fully compliant with state and federal regulations and had engaged with positive conversations with FMCSA and DMV about extending the January 5 cancellation date to allow additional time for FMCSA to review the department’s commercial driver’s license program,” the spokesperson continued.
The trucking industry has been rocked with a string of fatal crashes allegedly caused by illegal migrant drivers who obtained non-domiciled CDLs, with a majority of the high-profile accidents involving Indian nationals. The DOT responded to the crashes by handing down sweeping emergency rules in September that restricted foreign nationals from obtaining these commercial licenses.
Since August 2025, Harjinder Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Kamalpreet Singh — all illegal migrant truckers from India — are accused of causing fatal accidents on American highways. Gurpreet Singh and Jasveer Singh, also illegal migrants from India, were arrested Saturday for allegedly hauling hundreds of pounds of cocaine in a semi-trailer across Indiana.
An ongoing investigation by the administration has revealed a “catastrophic pattern” of states illegally issuing non-domiciled CDLs to foreign nationals, particularly in California. The nationwide audit found that over 25% of non-domiciled CDLs issued in the state were done so unlawfully, including licenses that extended years past the expiration date of migrants’ lawful presence documentation.
California DMV officials and the DOT had originally agreed on a Jan. 5 deadline to revoke these licenses. However, California extended this deadline to March 6 in response to a class-action lawsuit brought on by the Sikh Coalition and other groups.
“Federal regulations are clear: states must correct safety deficiencies on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the Agency, and California failed to meet its commitment to rescind these unlawfully-issued licenses by January 5,” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Derek Barrs said in a prepared statement.
“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,” Barrs continued.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include commentary from the California DMV.Â
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