By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday it may withhold up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding from Minnesota over commercial driver licenses issued improperly to non-U.S. residents.
The letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz gave the state 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the licenses after a federal audit. In September, the Transportation Department issued emergency rules to drastically restrict commercial driver licenses to non-U.S. citizens after a fatal crash in Florida and a government audit.
A spokesperson for Walz said the letter was being reviewed. “We take safety on our roads seriously and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has already worked to ensure we are in compliance with federal law,” the spokesperson said.
Separately, the Transportation Department said it was removing nearly 3,000 commercial driver-license training providers from a government registry for failing to properly equip trainees. It said that another 4,000 training providers were placed on notice for potential noncompliance.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and Walz last week called on Trump to release the results of a recent MRI.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump’s MRI was preventive in nature and revealed that he was in good cardiovascular health.
The Transportation Department said in 2023 that about 16% of U.S. truck drivers were born outside the country.
Last month, the department threatened to pull $160 million in federal funds from California if it did not revoke 17,000 commercial driver licenses held by foreigners that the government said were improperly issued.
In October, the department withheld $40.6 million from California in federal transportation funding for failing to comply with truck driver English proficiency rules.
In April, Trump had signed an executive order directing enforcement of a rule requiring commercial drivers in the U.S. to meet English proficiency standards.
While the English-proficiency standard for truckers was already longstanding U.S. law, the order reversed 2016 guidance that inspectors should not place commercial drivers out of service if their only violation was a lack of English.
In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was immediately pausing the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)
