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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he will withhold $40 million from California because it is the only state that has failed to enforce English language requirements for truck drivers.
The investigation, launched after an August 12 fatal crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn in Florida, found that Duffy made significant failures in the way California enforced the rules that followed one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders that took effect in June. California had issued the driver a commercial license, but these English regulations predated the accident.
Truck drivers are disqualified if they cannot 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.
Duffy said, “California is the only state in the country that refuses to ensure that 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 roadways.”
California defended its practices in a formal response to the Transportation Department last month, but federal officials were not satisfied.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office pushed back shortly after the announcement on Wednesday. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the data shows the accident rate for California commercial truck drivers is lower than the national average.
But Duffy announced his concerns in August, saying California has conducted nearly 34,000 inspections since the new language standards took effect that have found at least one violation. But only one inspection involved a breach of English language rules resulting in a driver being thrown out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in other states were allowed to continue driving in California after inspection.
The Department of Transportation said that to restore this funding, California must adopt regulations to enforce English standards and ensure that state inspectors are testing truck drivers’ English skills during roadside inspections and take any who fail them out of service.
In addition to this English language issue, Duffy has threatened to pull an additional $160 million from California because of the way the state issues commercial driver licenses. Duffy last month significantly restricted who can qualify for those licenses.
Three people were killed 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 collided with his trailer, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Singh and his passenger were not injured.
He is being held without bail after being charged with vehicular manslaughter and immigration violations in three states. His lawyer has previously declined to comment on the case.
The crash was thoroughly investigated because of questions about Singh’s immigration status and because investigators said he later failed an English proficiency test. Duffy and Florida officials blamed California as well as Washington state for not 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 shows Singh effectively communicating with an officer after he was pulled over there in July.
Duffy, President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have all been speaking with Newsom over the crash and whether Singh should have been driving the truck.
Newsom’s office said California followed all rules when it issued the license for Singh in July 2024, while the federal government confirmed at the time that he was in the country legally.
Duffy and Florida officials have said Singh, who is from India, entered the country illegally from Mexico in 2018.
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