Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday revealed that he’s prepared to pull millions in funding from California due to concerns about the state’s policy surrounding commercial drivers’ licensing.
“I’m about to pull $160 million from California, and as we pull more money, we also have the option of pulling California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses,” he said during a Fox News interview.
In the wake of a stream of fatal accidents involving foreign truckers, Duffy has enacted new rules designed to crack down on several states accused of granting CDLs, a special license required to operate semitrucks, tractor-trailers, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles, to illegal immigrants.
While states have begun taking action to address concerns, Duffy said over the weekend that California is the “only state” still refusing to comply with the DOT’s rules for granting the permit to people in the country without legal status. He also suggested illegal immigrants who gain CDL licensing could use the authorization as proof of residency to vote in elections.
Accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) of “caring more about illegals getting commercial driver’s licenses than he does the citizens of his own state and the safety of Americans,” Duffy alleged the governor had been “lying about what he’s been doing.”
“We’re going to fight tooth and nail under President [Donald] Trump’s administration to make sure that we hold states like California accountable,” the transportation secretary said. “Again, I think this is the corruption that happens inside of Democrat states that allow illegals to vote, and they celebrate it, and it’s got to stop.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles told the Washington Examiner that the federal government had previously allowed commercial driver’s licenses “for asylum seekers and refugees” and on “September 26, announced emergency regulations to cease this practice that went into effect on September 29.”
“California is in compliance with these regulations and will remain in compliance with federal law,” a spokeswoman for the DMV added. “The U.S. Department of Transportation has no legitimate basis to withhold certain federal highway transportation funds from the state.”
The debate over CDLs sparked after several fatal accidents involving truck drivers residing in the United States illegally. In Texas, a trucker caused a 17-vehicle pileup in March that killed five people. In Alabama, a driver with only six weeks’ experience slammed into cars at a red light in May, killing two.
Harjinder Singh, who obtained a CDL in California, was arrested in August after being involved in an accident that killed three. Jashanpreet Singh, who similarly obtained a CDL in the Golden State, was charged last week in connection with a fatal DUI crash that killed three people.
The Transportation Department released a report last Friday concluding that California officials upgraded Jashanpreet Singh’s CDL just days before his involvement in the deadly crash, and weeks after Duffy ordered the state to be in compliance with federal guidelines restricting the license from being granted to illegal immigrants.
When Duffy issued new directives in late September designed to stop those without legal status from obtaining CDLs, officials warned that California had 30 days to comply or risk losing federal highway funds, starting at about $160 million in the first year and doubling in the second. If California still refused to comply, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials warned they could decertify the state’s entire CDL program.
Weeks after the September order, Duffy announced he would withhold nearly $40 million in federal funding from California because the state had not yet complied with federal rules requiring truck drivers to be proficient in English. The Transportation Department’s move came after Duffy warned California and other states in August that funding would be withheld if they did not develop “corrective plans” that complied with Trump’s executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to be proficient in English.
“All the states have complied but one, that would be California,” Duffy told Fox News on Oct. 15 as he announced the government would revoke federal funding for California’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
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“These are the kind of risks that some of these drivers take when they don’t understand the rules. They don’t understand our culture, but they also don’t understand, if a crash happens, how to communicate with law enforcement,” he added.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
