Duffy Threatens to Pull Funds From New York Over Illegal CDLs
“But we also found that New York many times won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, they have a visa, or they’re in the country legally.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to withdraw $73 million from New York after an investigation found that 53% of those with commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) were issued illegally.
53% of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally. Now what New York does is, if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization for 30 days, 60 days, one year, New York automatically issues them an eight year commercial driver’s license. That’s contrary to the law. That’s one offense.
But we also found that New York many times won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, they have a visa, or they’re in the country legally. So they’re just giving eight year commercial driver’s licenses to people who are coming through their DMV and sending them out on American roadways, and again, they’re endangering the lives of American families. I don’t like that. I have to do this, the law requires me to do this.
I’m going to give New York 30 days because that’s what the law requires to come into compliance with the rules that have been long standing at the Department of Transportation. If they come into compliance, we’re going to work with them.
If New York refuses to come into compliance, because Kathy Hochul, for some reason, believes that we should have unqualified truck drivers on American roadways, we are going to pull tens of millions of dollars as phase one for the state of New York.
NEW: Transportation Sec. Duffy says that 53% of New York's non-domicile CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally. pic.twitter.com/BQWxOsESfX
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 12, 2025
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) found that 107 CDLs out of 200 were not legal.
New York DMV spokesman Walter McClure claimed that Duffy is lying:
“Secretary Duffy is lying about New York state once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents,” NYS DMV spokesperson Walter McClure said.
“Here is the truth: Commercial Drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules. Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations. This is just another stunt from Secretary Duffy, and it does nothing to keep our roads safer. We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”
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Sure, Jan ¯(ツ)/¯
If the state of New York does not make substantive and effective efforts to come into compliance within the 30 days, remember what the New York spokescritter said:
“Here is the truth: Commercial Drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government . . .”
Declare New York CDL’s to be not valid and at every contact with a truck driven by a driver with a New York CDL, impound the truck and cargo until it can be reclaimed by the trucking company sending a driver with a CDL considered valid. The delay and loss in time will have the companies avoiding shipping to and from New York and screaming at New York to come into compliance.
Subotai Bahadur
Yep. Inform other States they are free to ignore the CDL issued by NY/other States with suspect CDL and to seize the vehicles/cargo until a driver with a CDL from a compliant State shows up. Let the insurance companies and shipping companies choose if they should consider whether continuing employment/coverage of any driver
with a CDL issued by NY or other State with suspect drivers. If after 30 days they don’t get their crap together then move on to deny DL/State ID use for TSA.
If the CDLs issued are “RealID compliant” don’t wait the 30 days. ALL NY RealIDs are null and void. Done.
I understand the impulse and if I was in charge and thought I could get away with it then sure do it following the first conversation with State officials who didn’t immediately show contrition and leap to comply. Since that isn’t the case, 30 days seems reasonable. After that? Then it comes down to the State DL/ID data base is compromised so until new State safeguards are in place, all the malfeasance gone, the less than vigilant State employees not just fired but banned from future govt jobs with potential for similar laxity to compromise security and EVERY DL/ID reissued under tighter control standards then the old ones ,issued ’25 or prior, are no good for any Federal purpose, for IN, for TSA, for eligibility for any Federal program. Lots of downstream impacts. IMO that’s one reason the d/prog are so carefree about this, they believe their actions can’t be undone b/c so much upheaval and disruption would occur. FAFO.
I’ve been saying this for some time. There is no reason for states to be involved in issuing CDL’s that can be used for interstate commerce and fall under federal laws regulating them. Take the entire process away from the states and have the federal government do it much like they issue TWIC cards.
I’ve had a CDL for over 30 yrs and I’ve never had an “8 year CDL”. What the heck is that?
For a “fascist regime,” Team Trump aure does follow the law to a “t.” If it were really fascist, Duffy would have already yanked all funding without notice and have told Democrat judges to back off if they knew what was good for them.
Well, it would probably just shoot some of them ….
“We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”
Apparantly the idiotic NY spokesman felt free to comment and slander Duffy on a document that he hasn’t reviewed.
If you read, and really understood, “The Black Swan”, you can see there is some area for discussion here. The assumption behind the bell curve and all Gaussian statistics, is that all of the events are random. Like photons flowing through a semi-opaque materiel.
Sure, the sample of 200 is large enough, and 107 failures is a strong signal. But did the sample represent a random subset? If you are trying to prove something politically, not mathematically, you make sure to choose a non-random subset.
I have no doubt that the NY CDL system is at least as corrupt as the CA CDL system. If Duffy had worded things a bit differently, he would not have left an opening for McClure to muddy the linguistic waters.
Don’t talk about it. DO IT.
“If New York refuses to come into compliance, because Kathy Hochul, for some reason, believes that we should have unqualified truck drivers on American roadways”
1. Is Kathy Hochul for or against DEI?
2. QED.
WTH are we doing here?
I’m so bored with the ‘threatens’. I’m so tired of the ‘strongly worded letters’. I’m so done with the ‘own the libs’ rhetoric.
Laws have been broken. Crimes have been committed.
ARREST SOME ONE ALREADY. PUT SOME ONE IN PRISON. Or it’s still just **clown world**
WTH are we doing?! GOOD GRIEF.
They should do more then pull funds.
First of all they should be certify the state of New York from issuing commercial driver’s licenses.
Secondly, they should invalidate New York commercial driver’s licenses and require those people to retest at the federal level.
Third, they should make the people that were involved in issuing those fraudulent driver’s licenses vulnerable to lawsuits by the victims of those people. I’m talking about the people that gave the exam, scored the exam and their supervisors. And I am talking about personal liability, nothing that the taxpayer has to pick up.