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Minnesota's 'illegal’ CDL licenses risk federal funding: USDOT

Published  December 1, 2025 5:07pm CST
Minnesota
FOX 9
?Drivers licenses for all? becomes law in Minnesota

?Drivers licenses for all? becomes law in Minnesota

New legislation that aims to provide ?drivers licenses for all? has officially been signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz.

The Brief

    • An audit of non-domiciled CDLs in Minnesota found that one-third issued didn't meet federal guidelines.
    • The report outlines that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is now requesting state officials to take several steps to pause and revoke the issuance of the illegal licenses.
    • Minnesota has 30 days to come into compliance with the guidelines, or risk losing up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding.

(FOX 9) - The issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) in Minnesota reviewed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) puts the state at risk of losing federal funding, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy released a statement on Monday saying that an audit found one-third of those reviewed were illegal.

Illegal CDL licenses in Minnesota

What we know:

FMCSA’s audit findings released on Monday allege the state has issued non-domiciled CDLs to:

  • Drivers whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired. 
  • Drivers who were prohibited from holding a non-domiciled commercial CDL.
  • Drivers without Minnesota first verifying the individual’s lawful presence in the U.S.

The report outlines that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is now requesting state officials take the following steps:

  • Pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs. 
  • Identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations.
  • Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the federal requirements.
  • Conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices, and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet Federal rules.

Dig deeper:

Non-domiciled CDLs are issued to people who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, but are in the U.S. working legally.

What they're saying:

"Our audit exposes yet another example of foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services under Governor Walz’s watch," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in the statement. "Minnesota failed to follow the law and illegally doled out trucking licenses to unsafe, unqualified non-citizens – endangering American families on the road. That abuse stops now under the Trump Administration. The Department will withhold funding if Minnesota continues this reckless behavior that puts non-citizens gaming the system ahead of the safety of Americans."

What's next:

The report states that Minnesota has 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the illegally issued licenses, or risk losing up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding.

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