Transportation Department Gives NY State 30 Days to Comply With License Rules

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles accused the transportation secretary of fabricating information about the state’s licensing process.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy holds a press conference on New York’s nondomiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) practices on Dec. 12 , 2025. U.S. Department of Transportation/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The Department of Transportation (DOT) warned New York state that it has 30 days to comply with new federal rules around nondomiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) issuances, or it could lose tens of millions of dollars.

“Fifty-three percent of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a news conference on Dec. 12, adding that “tens of millions of dollars” will be pulled from New York state if it does not comply with his department.

Elaborating, Duffy wrote in a post on X that the DOT will be “holding New York accountable for issuing nondomicile commercial driver’s licenses to truckers illegally. FULL STOP. We’re giving New York 30 days to comply, or we’ll withhold $73 MILLION!”

Responding to Duffy’s comments, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson Walter McClure accused the secretary of fabricating information about the state’s licensing process.

“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 Driver’s Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules,” McClure said in a statement on Friday.

McClure said that the CDLs issued by New York state have to be “subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally-issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations,” adding that the office “will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”

The announcement from Duffy comes as the DOT has targeted multiple states and tightened rules around commercial driver’s licenses, coming after a high-profile crash involving a commercial truck driver that left several dead in Florida.

The accused driver, Harjinder Singh, was unable to speak English and had obtained a nondomiciled CDL from California and a full CDL from Washington state, officials said.

Singh pleaded not guilty in September to three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations.

Last month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked 17,000 CDLs issued illegally and in violation of federal rules, according to the DOT.

The department said it would withhold $40 million from California after finding that the state allegedly wasn’t in compliance with the DOT’s English-language requirements when those licenses were issued.

This month, around 3,000 CDL training providers were removed from the Federal Registry because those centers engaged in what Duffy said was “negligence” that had “endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.” Another 4,500 CDL training centers were put on notice by the federal government, he said.

Aside from California and New York, Duffy warned he would withhold millions from Minnesota and Pennsylvania over how CDLs are issued.

In a statement earlier in December, Duffy said that “one third” of Minnesota’s nondomiciled CDLs were issued illegally, following a review of the state’s practices. Like New York, the state was also given 30 days to comply, in a warning letter sent to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate.

The Epoch Times contacted the New York governor’s office for comment on Friday.