Stop Giving Illegal Aliens CDLs or Lose Funding [WATCH]

United States Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy criticized the Biden-Harris administration and several Democrat-led states for allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses, arguing that the practice poses a serious risk to public safety and violates long-standing federal rules meant to keep American roads safe.

Duffy said the issue centers on basic safety standards that have existed for years and are not tied to any single administration.

He argued that allowing individuals who cannot meet those standards to operate large commercial vehicles endangers lives.

“On this front again, she’s working on getting illegals out of trucks and out of the country, as well as everyone who’s here illegally out of the country,” Duffy said.

“But again, these are simple rules. These rules are not made up by the Trump administration. I didn’t make them up. These are rules that are set up to make sure our roads are safe.”

Duffy emphasized that commercial drivers must be able to communicate in English and complete required training before being allowed to operate heavy vehicles on public roads.

“And so if you can’t speak English, if you haven’t gone through the proper training courses, you shouldn’t behind, be behind the wheel of a big rig,” he said.

“These are 80,000 pound vehicles that can be incredibly dangerous when things go wrong.”

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He blamed the situation on federal immigration policies under Joe Biden, combined with decisions by liberal governors to prioritize employment for illegal aliens over public safety.

“The problem is, is that you had, you had Joe Biden that let 10s of millions of people into the country, and then you have liberal governors who said, well, they got to work, so let’s give them commercial driver’s licenses and put them on the American roads, endangering the safety of the American people,” Duffy said.

Duffy referenced a fatal incident involving an illegal alien driver to highlight the real-world consequences of these policies.

“You mentioned this individual who is he was driving a motor coach from China, illegal and, you know, taking the lives of good American folks,” he said.

“We want to do this right.”

He acknowledged that his authority to directly enforce these standards across states is limited, explaining that the Department of Transportation does not function as a law enforcement agency capable of conducting on-the-ground checks nationwide.

“And I don’t have a law enforcement at USDOT, so I can’t go in across the states and do these checks after rely on the state’s law enforcement to help me out,” Duffy said.

However, Duffy said the federal government does have significant leverage when states refuse to comply with federal safety rules, particularly through transportation funding.

“But what I can do, Brian, is I can pull their money,” he said.

“That’s the leverage that I do have.”

Duffy explained that federal law requires states be given time to come into compliance, but warned that continued defiance would have consequences.

“And as long as they don’t comply, there’s statutory rules by which I have to abide by,” he said.

“I have to give them, you know, time to comply with our rules. But if they don’t, I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they’re putting illegals on the roads and endangering the lives of the American people.”

He also pointed out that commercial driver’s licenses issued in certain states effectively grant nationwide driving privileges, increasing the scope of the problem.

“And you know this, if you get a driver’s license in Colorado, New York or California, you don’t stay in those states,” Duffy said.

WATCH:

BREAKING: Blue states including Colorado stand to lose tens of MILLIONS of federal dollars because they are not cooperating with purging illegals from CDLs

SEC. DUFFY: “I can PULL THEIR MONEY.”

“I guarantee you, the taxpayer will NOT fund their roads and bridges and systems… pic.twitter.com/gDUZ9Rmyn6

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 23, 2025

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