Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy unleashed on Colorado this week and threatened to withhold $24 million in federal funding if the blue state didn’t pull what the agency is alleging are illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
“Colorado doesn’t get to pick and choose what federal rules it follows – especially when the driving public is at risk,” Secretary Duffy said in a statement.
He continued, “It’s been nearly two months since Colorado admitted that they knowingly broke the law and gave Mexican nationals trucking licenses. Colorado has two options: revoke the licenses immediately, or I will pull federal funding. Every day that goes by is another day unqualified, unvetted foreign truckers are jeopardizing the safety of you and your family.”
The Department of Transportation, in a press release, cited a nationwide audit from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that made a shocking discovery: 22 percent of Colorado’s CDLs were allegedly issued illegally. “Many of these licenses were given to Mexican nationals – which is explicitly prohibited under federal regulations,” the department noted.
From the DOT:
“When pressed, Colorado admitted that these violations were not accidental, but the result of a 2016 statewide policy decision to disregard federal law and give trucking licenses to ineligible Mexican citizens. The state has also allowed non-domiciled CDL expiration dates to exceed the drivers’ lawful presence documents, effectively allowing individuals to drive trucks on American roadways long after their legal status to remain in the country had expired.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) has pushed back on Duffy’s attacks, calling the situation merely a case of “crossed-wires,” via the Associated Press. He also said that Colorado was holding a “final review of the findings” from the audit, “with letters likely going out this week to CDL holders whose credentials were improperly issued.”
The DOT argued that Colorado has been “slow walking the license purge” and therefore has continued to violate federal law.