Category: CDL
‘Reckoning day’ for Newsom: Trump DOT yanks $160 million over illegal trucker licenses
As the Trump administration continues to meet resistance from blue-state governors across the nation, California is now reaping what it sowed by illegally issuing trucker licenses to foreigners.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that it was “reckoning day” for the state of California and its Democrat governor, Gavin Newsom.
‘Gavin refused. So now I am pulling nearly $160 MILLION from California.’
In a social media post, Duffy explained the Trump administration’s “demands”: “Follow the rules. Revoke the unlawfully-issued licenses to dangerous foreign drivers. Fix the system so this never happens again.”
Duffy’s post comes after months of demanding that California revoke commercial driver’s licenses illegally issued to foreigners. Duffy provided a short video showing that Newsom had many opportunities to comply with federal law.
RELATED: Illegal alien truckers with California licenses accused of hauling $7M in cocaine across state lines
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
However, “Gavin refused,” Duffy said. “So now I am pulling nearly $160 MILLION from California. Under @POTUS, federal dollars won’t fund this CHARADE.”
The funding will be withheld from California beginning in fiscal year 2027.
California agreed in November to revoke every illegally issued license within 60 days. As of the January 5, 2026, deadline, California has failed to follow through on this agreement, leading to the major withholding of federal funding.
At least 17,000 licenses were expected to be revoked on Monday, per the original agreement.
According to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit reviewed by Fox News, more than 20,000 active non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal rules. The FMCSA reportedly described the situation in California as a “systemic collapse” of the commercial licensing program.
“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,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said, according to Fox News.
“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 added.
California DMV spokesperson Eva Spiegel responded to the loss of federal funding in a statement: “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.”
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