BY COMFORT OGBONNA
California filed a lawsuit late Friday against the Trump administration after federal officials withheld more than $33 million in transportation safety funding, escalating a dispute over rules requiring English proficiency for commercial truck drivers. The legal action argues that the decision unfairly penalizes the state despite its compliance with federal standards and threatens both public safety and economic stability.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, names Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It challenges an October decision to terminate federal grants that support California’s commercial vehicle safety programs, including roadside inspections, traffic enforcement operations, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education initiatives.
California contends that it already enforces English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers that are fully compatible with federal law. State officials described the funding cutoff as “arbitrary and capricious,” calling it an abuse of discretion that runs contrary to established law. According to the lawsuit, the move undermines road safety across the state and risks significant economic harm by weakening oversight of one of the nation’s busiest freight corridors.
The dispute comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten enforcement against commercial drivers who do not meet English-language requirements. In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States would immediately pause the issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers, citing safety concerns tied to communication barriers. Federal transportation authorities have also increased scrutiny of states they accuse of failing to adequately enforce licensing and language rules.
On the same day California filed its lawsuit, the Transportation Department warned New York state that it could lose $73 million in federal funding over allegations that commercial driver licenses were improperly issued to non-U.S. citizens. The threat marked the latest in a series of actions directed at Democratic-led states, which the administration has accused of lax enforcement. Earlier, emergency rules issued in September sharply restricted access to commercial driver licenses for non-U.S. citizens following a fatal crash in Florida and a subsequent government audit.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that federal funding could be withheld from large, Democratic-run cities and states, including Chicago, New York, Minnesota, and California, over issues ranging from infrastructure spending to commercial driver licensing practices. Critics argue the approach politicizes transportation safety, while supporters say stricter enforcement is necessary to protect the public.
California emphasized in its filing that its safety record compares favorably with national figures. The state noted that drivers holding California commercial licenses have been involved in 39% fewer fatal commercial vehicle accidents than the national average, evidence it says undermines claims that its enforcement practices are inadequate.
While English proficiency for truck drivers has long been required under U.S. law, the administration intensified enforcement earlier this year. An executive order issued in April reversed guidance from 2016 that instructed inspectors not to place drivers out of service solely for lacking English proficiency. Federal data from 2023 show that about 16% of U.S. truck drivers were born outside the country, a statistic frequently cited in the debate over licensing and language standards.
The Transportation Department and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
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