FMCSA audit showed that 53% of sampled non-domiciled CDLs issued by New York were illegal, USDOT says

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused the state of New York of improperly issuing more than half of sampled non-domiciled non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), indicating “a total collapse in the administration of New York’s CDL program.”

FMCSA Audit Uncovers “Dereliction Of Duty” By New York Leadership, USDOT Says

On Friday, December 12, Duffy announced results from an ongoing Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) audit that showed that out of 200 sampled records, 107 non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal law, for a failure rate of over 53%.

Duffy said that New York stands to lose $73 million in federal funding if it does not act quickly to remedy the issues uncovered by the audit by immediately revoking all improperly issued CDLs and pausing the issuance of all new, renewed, transferred, or upgraded non-domiciled CDLs or commercial learner’s permits (CLPs).

New York State has 30 days to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) requirements to avoid the loss of millions in federal funding.

“When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake—it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses. If they refuse to follow the law, we will withhold federal highway funding,” said Duffy. “This administration will never stop fighting to keep you and your family safe on our roads.

“The 2025 CDL audit uncovered that New York DMV’s license issuing practices are a grossly unacceptable deviation from federal regulations that have compromised the integrity of the state’s CDL program,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Barrs. “New York must act immediately to comprehensively audit its CDL program and revoke every single illegally issued licenses.” 

Duffy further accused New York’s DMV’s systems of defaulting to issuing 8-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired, and of issuing CDLs to non-citizen drivers without verifying their lawful immigration status. The New York DMV also relied upon expired lawful presence documents to issue CDLs, Duffy said.

OOIDA Speaks Out In Support Of USDOT’s CDL Crackdown

Trucking group Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) cheered Duffy for the continued crackdown on improperly issued CDLs.

“The days of exploiting cheap labor on the basis of false ‘driver shortage’ claims are over. OOIDA and truckers across America support the Trump Administration’s actions to crack down on the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs. For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk. Secretary Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Barrs are embracing policies that prioritize the needs of professional truckers and roadway safety,” said OOIDA President Todd Spencer.

See Duffy announcing the audit results during a press conference in the video below.