Federal government to withhold $40M from Newsom run California for not enforcing trucker English requirements

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he will withhold $40
million from California because it is the only state that is failing to
enforce English language requirements for truckers. 

An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a
foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn on Aug. 12 found what
Duffy called significant failures in the way California is enforcing
rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump's
executive orders. California had issued the driver a commercial license,
but these English rules predate the crash. 

Truckers are supposed to be disqualified if they can't demonstrate
English proficiency, and Duffy said the driver involved in the crash
should not have been given a commercial license because of his
immigration status. The crash has become increasingly political, with
the governors of California and Florida criticizing each other and Duffy
highlighting the administration's immigration concerns in interviews. 

"California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big
rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law
enforcement. This is a fundamental safety issue that impacts you and
your family on America's road," Duffy said. 

California defended its practices in a formal response to the
Transportation Department last month, but federal officials weren't
satisfied. 

The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly pushed back after the
announcement Wednesday. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the
governor, said statistics show that California commercial truck drivers
have a lower crash rate than the national average. 

But Duffy said when he announced his concerns in August that California
had conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one
violation since the new language standards took effect. But only one
inspection involved an English language rules violation that resulted in
a driver being taken out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in
other states were allowed to continue driving after inspections in
California. 

The Transportation Department said that to get this funding reinstated,
California must adopt regulations to enforce the English rules and
ensure that state inspectors are testing truck drivers' English skills
during roadside inspections and pulling anyone that fails out of
service. 

In addition to this English language issue, Duffy has threatened to pull
another $160 million from California because of the way the state issues
commercial drivers licenses. Duffy significantly restricted who can
qualify for those licenses last month. 

Three people died when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal
U-turn on a highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm
Beach and a minivan slammed into his trailer, according to Florida's
Highway Patrol. Singh and his passenger were not injured. 

He is being held without bond after being charged with three state
counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. His lawyer has
previously declined to comment on the case. 

The crash received intense scrutiny because of questions about Singh's
immigration status and because investigators said he failed an English
proficiency test afterward. Duffy and Florida officials blamed
California as well as Washington state for issuing him a commercial
driver's license. 

But California officials said he had a valid work permit at the time.
And New Mexico released video of a traffic stop that showed Singh
communicating with an officer effectively after he was pulled over there
in July. 

Duffy, President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have all be
trading barbs with Newsom over the crash and whether Singh should have
been driving a truck. 

Newsom's office said California followed all the rules when it issued a
license for Singh in July 2024, while the federal government confirmed
at that time that he was in the country legally. 

Duffy and Florida authorities have said Singh, who is from India,
entered the country illegally from Mexico in 2018. 

https://wtop.com/national/2025/10/federal-government-to-withhold-40m-from
-california-for-not-enforcing-trucker-english-requirements/