California cancels 17,000 CDLs following federal audit Newsom issued licenses to “dangerous foreign drivers,” according to Trump administration
 John Gallagher
· Wednesday, November 12, 2025
California is revoking thousands of illegal CDLs, according to US DOT.
WASHINGTON — The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has cancelled 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses following a federal audit of the state’s CDL program, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In a press statement on Wednesday, DOT asserted that state officials admitted to illegally issuing the CDLs “to dangerous foreign drivers,” and that DMV sent notices to the license holders that their license no longer meets federal requirements and will expire in 60 days.
“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”
FreightWaves has reached out to California’s DMV for comment.
FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison notified Newsom and his DMV in a September 26 letter that a sampling of the roughly 62,000 drivers in California holding unexpired, non-domiciled CDLs or commercial learner’s permits issued by the state revealed that 26% – which extrapolates to roughly 16,000 – failed to comply with federal requirements.
“Even more concerning is the fact that, for three of the transactions, the DMV was unable to provide documentation showing that it validated the drivers’ lawful presence documents before issuing a non-domiciled CDL,” Elison stated. “Consequently, based on the documentation provided, it appears that the DMV issued a non-domiciled CDL to three drivers without validating their lawful presence.”
Duffy posted a statement on the day of Elison’s notification letter warning that “California must get its act together immediately or I will not hesitate to pull millions in funding,” starting at nearly $160 million in the first year and doubling in year two.
DOT reiterated on Wednesday that it “will continue to push California’s to revoke all illegal non-domiciled CDLs or pull $160 million in federal funds.” |
