Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy on Thursday announced that New York state would lose more than $73 million in federal funding for failing to revoke "illegally issued" non-domiciled CDLs.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration first called out New York in December as the "worst offender" nationwide for improper CDL issuance. Four months after giving the state 30 days to revoke all wrongly issued CDLs, Duffy has dropped the hammer.
“I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers," said Duffy in a DOT release.
In December, Duffy said that "53% of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally," referencing a Preliminary Determination of Noncompliance letter that said 107 of 200 non-domiciled CDLs reviewed by DOT failed to comply with federal regs.
New York has issued 32,606 non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs that remain unexpired, according to FMCSA.
"What New York does is if an applicant comes in with work authorization for 30 days, 60 days, one year, New York automatically issues them an eight-year CDL that’s contrary to the law," said Duffy in December. "New York, many times, won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, a visa, or they’re in the country legally."
FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs in December said New York's issues weren't just errors, but a "systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from the rules that have been on the books a long time."
Since December, New York issued a response within the 30 days in January, only for DOT to come back on March 13 finding the response lacking.
On March 13, 2026, FMCSA told New York that its "failure to complete the required corrective actions as set forth in the Preliminary Determination, including immediate rescission of all noncompliant non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs, would result in FMCSA issuing a Final Determination of Substantial Noncompliance," DOT wrote in a final notice of noncompliance to the state.
Ten days later, New York wrote FMCSA back, continuing "to dispute the legal and procedural merits of FMCSA’s determination of noncompliance" and declining to take action.
New York now joins California as the only state to actually lose highway funding as a result of its non-domiciled CDL issues. At least 28 other states and jurisdictions were similarly warned, but all seem to have fallen in line.
"I’m delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul’s dangerous, anti-American policies. My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads,” Duffy concluded.
“FMCSA’s mission is safety," said Barrs. "That means ensuring that every commercial driver on the road is properly vetted and qualified. New York’s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law."
Overdrive reached out to New York's DMV and will update this post with any response.
[Related: New York the 'worst offender' for improper non-domiciled CDLs]
