California officials unlawfully issued 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to foreign-born drivers based on findings from an audit, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lies have finally caught up with him, as the California Department of Motor Vehicles has agreed to revoke the CDLs, DOT officials said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pressured California to revoke all illegal non-domiciled CDLs or plans to pull $160 million in federal funds, according to a press release.
“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Duffy said in a statement.
The CDLS in question were issued to immigrants with expiration dates that went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S., state officials said Wednesday per a report by the Associated Press.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Duffy said. “My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ongoing audit uncovered the California DMV’s failures. Those drivers were given notices that their licenses will expire in 60 days.
In addition, the FMCSA has required California to provide its full audit of all its non-domiciled CDLs, so the agency can verify that every illegally issued license has been revoked.
California officials also have to take corrective action, so the failures that allowed these licenses to be issued are resolved.
Newsom’s office initially deflected the CDL errors back on the federal government, saying that the drivers had valid work authorizations from the federal government.
Later, his office revealed the licenses violated a state law that requires the licenses expire on or before a person’s legal status to be in the United State ends, as reported to the DMV, the AP reported.
Newsom’s spokesperson Brandon Richards shot back at Duffy in a statement, which the Governor Newsom Press Office X account also shared to refute the claims.
Once again, the Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his "dear leader."
He did, however, finally acknowledge that federal government issued these drivers work permits. https://t.co/SSJ3c7zO7g pic.twitter.com/54GQLliAyF
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 12, 2025
“Once again, the Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader,” Richards said.
Duffy replied on X in response to the post:
Blatantly lying to the American people won't help Newsom's keyboard warriors get their next jobs.
We've said all along, @USDOT is reprimanding California for violating @FMCSA's ORIGINAL rules.
My emergency rule came as a consequence in part for California’s total disregard of… https://t.co/yLj8fN11Gf pic.twitter.com/ZixWbeGHfH
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2025
“Blatantly lying to the American people won’t help Newsom’s keyboard warriors get their next jobs,” Duffy wrote. “We’ve said all along, @USDOT is reprimanding California for violating @FMCSA ‘s ORIGINAL rules. My emergency rule came as a consequence in part for California’s total disregard of those federal laws—it was THAT BAD.”
According to the DOT release, “FMCSA’s nationwide non-domiciled CDL audit uncovered systemic policy, procedural, and programming errors in California’s non-domiciled CDL program, which allowed thousands of CDLs to be illegally issued to foreign drivers.”
Duffy’s DOT recently issued emergency rules to tighten the requirements for CDLs after a series of fatal crashes on American highways. However, a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia on Monday temporarily halted a rule change for non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses,
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also limited the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to foreigners, only if they possess either an H-2B, H-2A or E-2 visa.
The new rules also include requiring English proficiency and auditing states’ CDL records for compliance with federal regulations.
The worst offender is California, where more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed by the feds were improperly issued, according to the Transportation Department. In particular, the California DMV issued licenses that extended well beyond a foreigner’s work permit.
In October, the Department announced it is withholding over $40 million from California following an investigation that found the state has failed to comply with the Department’s English Language Proficiency standards.
In May, Secretary Duffy signed an order with new guidelines to better enforce English language proficiency for commercial truck operators. Under the new guidance, drivers who fail to comply with FMCSA longstanding English-language proficiency requirements will be placed out-of-service.
The non-domicile CDL crackdown was precipitated by triple-fatal crashes involving 18-wheelers in Florida on Aug. 12 and Oct. 21 in California. Fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year also highlight questions about the issuance of these licenses.
In another fatal wreck in Indiana, semi-truck driver, Borko Stankovic, who is an illegal immigrant from Serbia, killed a 54-year-old man on Oct. 15 after he swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a Subaru Crosstrek. Stankovic didn’t even have a CDL and was carrying a suspended license that belonged to a family member.
