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The Biden-era mess at California’s DMV finally met a reckoning when Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced that roughly $160 million in federal highway funding will be withheld after the state failed to cancel thousands of unlawfully issued commercial driver’s licenses by the Jan. 5 deadline. This isn’t petty politics — it’s accountability for putting unvetted drivers behind the wheels of 80,000-pound vehicles on American roads.
Federal auditors and the FMCSA found that more than 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal rules, and the broader audit points to over 20,000 problematic licenses statewide — a staggering lapse in basic border, immigration, and public-safety enforcement. Californians deserve to know why their state government prioritized political theater over following federal safety standards that protect every traveler and small-business trucker.
Instead of acting when the problem was flagged, Sacramento tried to play games with deadlines, claiming extensions and dragging its feet while federal agencies demanded immediate compliance. The state’s last-minute bid to push revocation dates into March only proved that its leadership prefers delay over safety, and the DOT was right to call that out and move to withhold funds.
This crackdown follows a nationwide audit and a deadly crash that exposed what happens when regulators look the other way — tragedies that could have been prevented if states had enforced lawful-presence and English-proficiency rules for commercial drivers. The federal government’s action is about preventing more avoidable deaths and stopping negligent policies that put ordinary Americans at risk.
Practical consequences are on the line: the FMCSA is withholding about 4 percent of certain federal highway and block grant funds to California, a clear financial incentive for compliance that protects taxpayers and safety, not a partisan vendetta. If Gavin Newsom and his allies think politics will shield them from accountability, they’re mistaken — federal funds come with federal rules.
This is a simple choice for voters: do you want leaders who prioritize open borders and photo-op virtue signaling, or leaders who put Americans’ safety and the rule of law first? The Trump administration’s move to pull funding should be a wake-up call for every state that thinks it can ignore federal standards and for every citizen who expects their roads to be safe.
