Feds Threaten to Strip New York of $73M After Audit Finds Majority of Commercial Licenses Issued Illegally

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Friday that New York could lose $73 million in federal highway funds after an audit revealed that more than half of the state’s commercial trucking licenses had been granted to foreign-born applicants living in the US illegally.

“What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license,” Duffy said at a press conference in Washington. “That’s contrary to the law.”

Duffy added that auditors also discovered that New York often failed to verify whether applicants had valid work authorization, visas, or lawful immigration status.

“They’re just giving eight-year commercial driver’s licenses to people who are coming through their DMV and sending them out on American roadways — and again they’re endangering the lives of American families,” he said.

The warning followed a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration review of 200 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses issued by the New York DMV, which found that 107 were unlawfully granted.

Roughly 32,000 New York-issued CDLs are currently active nationwide — even after a recent revelation that one migrant applicant received a license without listing a first name.

DOT officials also opened an investigation Thursday into whether a Chinese national involved in a deadly pileup on a Tennessee highway had been improperly issued a New York State driver’s license.

“Gov. Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses. If they refuse to follow the law, we will withhold federal highway funding,” Duffy said, stressing that a New York CDL allows drivers to operate across the entire country.

Duffy has given state officials 30 days to cancel all improperly issued licenses, halt new CDL processing, and conduct a full internal audit — or risk losing federal funds. When asked if the funding threat could disrupt the flow of goods, Duffy replied that safety must come first, noting that responsible trucking companies will continue to keep freight moving.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs emphasized the severity of the findings. “What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight,” he said. “It’s a systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from a federal safety regulation that has been on the books for a long period of time.”

New York DMV spokesman Walter McClure pushed back strongly, saying: “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents.” He insisted that all CDLs issued in the state comply with federal rules and that applicants’ lawful status is verified through federal documentation.

Federal officials noted that half of all CDLs nationwide originate in New York or California. In California, where 25% of commercial licenses were found unlawful, the state revoked at least 17,000 — but Duffy criticized Sacramento for still failing to enforce English-language requirements.

“And how you can get a license when you’re not proficient in English in California begs the question: What the hell is going on in California?” he said.