HARRISBURG, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — The Trump administration is threatening to pull $75 million in funding if Pennsylvania does not revoke what the federal government claims are illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants.
In four cases it had reviewed, the federal government said Pennsylvania provided no evidence that it had required non-citizens to provide legitimate proof that they were legally in the country at the time they got commercial driver’s licenses.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited a recent ICE arrest of a man from Uzbekistan who was issued a Pennsylvania Commercial Driver’s’ License (CDL) despite Homeland Security saying he’s a suspected terrorist.
Duffy has made it a priority to scrutinize how licenses are issued since August, when a tractor-trailer caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. The driver in that crash was not authorized to be in the U.S.
Addressing reporters in Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said the Uzbek man referenced by Duffy, like all immigrant CDL applicants, had to be validated through the Homeland Security-maintained Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database.
“We checked the federal database months ago when this individual received his CDL, and he was authorized to get it by the federal database,” Shapiro said.
The Trump administration said in a letter to Shapiro that an audit found two out of 150 people whose licenses exceeded their lawful presence in the country. A PennDOT spokesperson said the federal government audit did not find a single CDL issued to someone ineligible.
"Following the release of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association's (FMCSA) Interim Final Rule on Sept. 29, 2025, PennDOT immediately paused issuing all non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs),” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to KYW Newsradio. "PennDOT's top priority is safety on our roadways and ensuring only those legally eligible are able to secure a license. The Department is reviewing FMCSA's letter and will respond within the required timeline."
A similar conflict is happening in California. State officials there announced plans last Wednesday to revoke some 17,000 CDLs over the issue of license expiration dates extending beyond drivers’ authorized stay periods.