Washington is pulling $73 million in federal highway grants from New York after accusing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration of refusing to take immigrant truck drivers with expired work authorizations off the road, according to a report by The New York Post.
The US Department of Transportation warned that another $147 million could be at risk if the state remains out of compliance.
“I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I’m delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul’s dangerous, anti-American policies,” US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told The Post. “My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads.”
At the center of the clash is New York’s handling of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, or CDLs, issued to foreign nationals. A DOT letter said the state DMV “refuses” to carry out a broader review of thousands of licenses and remove those tied to drivers whose work authorization has expired.
That allegation did not come out of nowhere.
Back on Dec. 12, 2025, DOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said an audit of New York’s non-domiciled CDL program found 107 violations in a 200-record sample, a failure rate of more than 53%.
Federal officials said the state’s system defaulted to issuing eight-year non-REAL ID CDLs without properly matching license terms to the expiration of lawful presence documents. DOT said at the time New York risked losing roughly $73 million if it did not revoke improperly issued licenses.
A Reuters report from that December fight said New York was one of several Democratic-led states targeted in Duffy’s nationwide audit push, though California later moved to revoke 17,000 licenses after federal pressure.
New York has rejected the administration’s framing.
In its earlier response to DOT, the state DMV said every CDL it issues is subject to verification of lawful status through federally issued documents and accused Duffy of using the issue as political theater.
DMV spokesman Walter McClure said in December that “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again” and insisted the state would continue complying with federal rules.
Still, the White House has made this issue part of a broader crackdown on foreign truck-driver eligibility after a string of high-profile crashes involving non-domiciled drivers.
DOT’s February emergency action and subsequent rule changes narrowed who can qualify for non-domiciled commercial licenses and pointed to concerns that some applicants had been waved through on weaker documentation.
🚨 JUST IN: The Trump admin has just informed New York they're PULLING $73 MILLION from New York for failing to REVOKE trucking licenses from illegals
53% of licenses issued VIOLATED federal law
DOT will BAR NY from issuing ANY CDLs if they still refuse to comply, per… pic.twitter.com/6xkuYtiEjU
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 16, 2026
More over at The New York Post:
Trump DOT yanks $73M funding from NY for 'failing' to vet foreign truck drivers https://t.co/bfo6pUZB4E pic.twitter.com/JtWgy5Oann
— New York Post (@nypost) April 16, 2026
