U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Sunday that he is making good on his threat to cancel millions of dollars in federal funds to California for illegally issuing commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.
Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Duffy said California Gov. Gavin Newsom is refusing to follow U.S. Department of Transportation rules that require the state to stop issuing such licenses and review those already issued.
“So, one thing, we’re going to take $160 million out of California,” Duffy said. “And as we extract more funding, we also have the option of extracting California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses.”
Mr. Newsom’s news office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the issue Sunday, but California has previously defended its practices. When Mr. Duffy threatened to cancel the funding last month, the governor’s press secretary dismissed the attack, pointing out that California’s accident rate for commercial driver’s license holders is significantly lower than the national average and the Texas average, making Texas the only state with a large number of commercial driver’s license holders.
Last month, the Department of Transportation tightened commercial driver’s license requirements for non-citizens after three fatal crashes that authorities said were caused by immigrant truck drivers. Under the new rules, only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible for the CDL, and each state will be required to verify an applicant’s immigration status against a federal database. The license is valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires earlier.
Duffy said last month that California should not have issued 25% of the 145 licenses investigators reviewed. He cited four California licenses that remain valid, sometimes years after the driver’s work permit expires. States had 30 days to come up with a plan to comply or lose funding.
A nationwide audit of commercial driver’s licenses has begun after authorities say a domestic driver made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash that killed three people in Florida. The audit revealed improperly issued licenses in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington.
Duffy said Sunday that California illegally issued tens of thousands of these licenses to noncitizens.
“That means there are 60,000 people on the road who probably don’t have a license,” Duffy said. “They’re driving fuel tankers, they’re driving school buses, we’ve seen some crashes with people who shouldn’t have licenses on American roads.”
Earlier this month, Duffy said he would withhold $40 million from California because it is the only state that does not require truck drivers to use English. California defended its practices in a formal response to the Department of Transportation, but federal officials were not satisfied.
An investigation that began after the Florida crash found that Duffy cited significant failures in how California enforced its rules, which went into effect in June following President Trump’s executive order. California issued commercial licenses to drivers, but these British regulations existed before the accident.
