USDOT yanks $73.5 million from New York for failure to revoke illegally-issued CDLs

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that New York will lose out on millions in federal transportation funding over failure to revoke illegally-issued non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).

On April 16, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will withhold $73,502,543 in transportation funding from the state of New York for “continuous refusal to remove these dangerous drivers from the road.”

USDOT pointed to a recent nationwide FMCSA audit, which showed that “the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had been routinely issuing CDLs to foreign drivers illegally.”

Officials said that 53% of the sampled non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally by the New York DMV.

USDOT also alleges that the “DMV’s systems defaulted to issuing 8-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired.”

Federal authorities say that in March, FMCSA issued a formal statement to New York “refuting the state’s claims of compliance and reiterating that New York had failed to complete required corrective actions, including the immediate rescission of all noncompliant non-domicile CLPs and CDLs.”

“I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I’m delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul’s dangerous, anti-American policies. My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads,” said Duffy.

“FMCSA’s mission is safety. That means ensuring that every commercial driver on the road is properly vetted and qualified. New York’s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) praised Duffy for taking action against the state of New York on non-domiciled CDLs.

“The days of exploiting cheap labor on the basis of false ‘driver shortage’ claims are over. OOIDA and truckers across America applaud Secretary Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Barrs for responding to our concerns by taking substantial actions to crack down on the irresponsible issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, particularly in New York. For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk. These enforcement actions will remove bad actors from the road and restore accountability to the system. Today’s action is an important step toward safer highways and a stronger, more professional trucking industry,” said OOIDA President Todd Spencer.

In January 2026, USDOT announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is withholding approximately $158 million in transportation funding from California for failure to cancel approximately 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs by the given deadline.