The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday said it would delay the cancelation date of approximately 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs for an additional 60 days in the latest turn in a contentious back-and-forth with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Hours later, U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy responded, saying California risked losing $160 million in federal funding if it pushed the deadline back.
"Gavin Newsom is lying," wrote Duffy on X. "The deadline to revoke illegally issued, unvetted foreign trucker licenses is still January 5. California does NOT have an 'extension' to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads."
On November 6, 2025, California DMV notified 17,299 non-domiciled CDL drivers that it would cancel their CDL on January 5 due to errors the state made in failing to match license expiration dates with work authorization expirations.
In December, California tried to reverse that action, but the DOT blocked them. With Tuesday's delay of the cancelation, California has tried to maneuver around a September 26 order from DOT to completely suspend non-domiciled CDL issuance and cancel any licenses with errors, for at least the third time.
Now, California DMV says it won't cancel those 17,000 licenses until March 6, 2026.
“Commercial drivers are an important part of our economy -- our supply chains don’t move, and our communities don’t stay connected without them,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “We are hopeful that our collaboration with the federal government will give FMCSA confidence in our updated processes to allow California to promptly resume issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses.”
California DMV hopes the 60-day extension "allows the parties to find a solution that permits drivers to remain working to serve our communities."
The affected drivers will be receiving letters shortly.
"DMV stands ready to resume issuing commercial driver’s licenses, including corrected licenses to eligible drivers," said a release from California DMV.
The Sikh Coalition and the Asian Law Caucus, who were suing California DMV over the 17,000 non-domiciled CDL revocations, praised the move.
“This is an important step towards alleviating the immediate threat that these drivers are facing to their lives and livelihoods,” said Munmeeth Kaur, legal director for the Sikh Coalition. “We intend to remain fully engaged with the state of California to ensure that they find and publicize a permanent solution for these drivers and their families.”
“We commend the California DMV for listening to the thousands of drivers who have been demanding an extension of the deadline,” said Katherine Zhao, senior staff attorney at Asian Law Caucus.
[Related: Sikh Coalition sues California to get non-domiciled CDL issuance back]
