After months of refusing to comply with federal regulations requiring truck drivers to be tested for English language proficiency, California Governor Gavin Newsom is finally reversing course, the United States Department of Transportation confirmed to the Post on Friday.
The USDOT withheld over $40 million from the state last October after USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy said California was the only state that failed to enforce the regulations requiring truckers pass a test showing they can communicate in English and understand traffic signs.
“I shouldn’t have had to threaten to withhold millions in funding for California to come to their senses and enforce the law,” Duffy told The California Post. “For those who said we’re playing politics—our efforts have gotten real results for the American people.”
In an effort to strengthen road safety, President Donald Trump signed an executive order back in April that pulled truckers from the road and disqualified those who failed their ELP test.
State law enforcement is required to test drivers for proficiency in English during routine traffic stops.
The USDOT confirmed to The Post that California has started to enforce the longstanding rules, and the department is now in the processing of unfreezing the $40 million in federal funds. --->READ MORE HERE
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Transportation secretary gives Pritzker 30-day ultimatum after audit finds drivers from El Salvador to Ukraine received improper commercial licenses
Illinois could lose millions in federal funding if it does not clean up its driver’s licensing system after the U.S. Department of Transportation warned Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s top licensing official that one in five commercial licenses issued to noncitizens were issued illegally.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a written ultimatum to both the Hyatt Hotels heir and Kevin Duesterhaus, the state director of driver services under Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and listed several cases of drivers from El Salvador to Ukraine who were in violation of the law.
"I need our state partners to understand that they work for the American people, not illegal immigrants who broke the law illegally entering our country and continue to break it by operating massive big rigs without the proper qualifications," Duffy said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
"[Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg forced Americans to share their roads with unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers, but the Trump administration is putting the needs of American families first where they belong."
Duffy warned Duesterhaus and Pritzker that $128 million in federal highway funding, including Illinois’ share of the National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Block Grants for FY-2027, would be held up if fixes are not made within 30 days and noncompliance continues.
"In addition, if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issues a final determination of substantial noncompliance, the agency may decertify Illinois’ CDL program," Duffy wrote. --->READ MORE HERE
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