BREAKING: Transit Sec moves to block $73 MILLION in funds to New York over illegal trucker licenses

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that over half of non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses for truckers in New York were issued illegally. He has threatened to pull $73 million in funding from the state as a result.  

“When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake — it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership,” Duffy said of the issue. "Gov. [Kathy] Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses. If they refuse to follow the law, we will withhold federal highway funding.” 

Hochul now has 30 days to respond to the demand from Duffy, per the New York Post. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reviewed non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) that were given out by New York and there was a 53 percent failure rate with the audit. The FMCSA looked at a sample of 200 CDL records and found that 107 of them had been issued illegally. 

The DMV of New York currently appears to have “defaulted to issuing 8-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired," a statement from the Department of Transportation (DOT) noted.  

Duffy called on Hochul to revoke all the illegally issued CDLs and to pause learner's permits as well as new licenses from being issued. He also demanded that New York conduct their own audit of the system. 

A New York State DMV spokesman, Walter McClure said in response to the review of the CDLs, “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York state once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents." 

“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," he added. 

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barnes disagreed, and said, “The 2025 CDL audit uncovered that New York DMV’s license issuing practices are a grossly unacceptable deviation from federal regulations that have compromised the integrity of the state’s CDL program. New York must act immediately to comprehensively audit its CDL program and revoke every single illegally issued licenses.” 

The move from Duffy comes as there has been heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration over states issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants or other foreign nationals who have later been involved in massive wrecks while driving semi-trucks.