The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced on Dec. 30 that it was extending the cancellation date for 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses until March 6. 

The agency said the 60-day extension from the previously announced Jan. 5 cancellation date would allow it to work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration “to identify a solution that allows affected drivers to continue working and serving California communities.”

However, not long after California made this announcement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to social media, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom of lying. 

“The deadline to revoke illegally issued, unvetted foreign trucker licenses is still Jan. 5,” Duffy wrote. “California does NOT have an ‘extension’ to keep breaking the law and putting Americans at risk on the roads. Miss the deadline, Gavin, and the Department of Transportation will act – including cutting nearly $160 million in federal funding.”

Several hours later, Newsom’s press office responded with its own public social media message to Duffy, stating that DOT staffers told the California DMV “they were open to an extension eight days ago. In fact, FMCSA agreed an extension made logistical sense and was reasonable (in a meeting on Dec. 18)! DMV relied on that guidance and acted accordingly. Only after the plan became pubic did your agency suddenly object.”

There have been no further public statements since Dec. 30, creating uncertainty as 2026 begins. This latest chain of events started after the Sikh Coalition and Asian Law Caucus filed a class-action lawsuit against California to halt the cancellation of 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs following pressure from the U.S. DOT.

In November, California announced plans to revoke the CDLs effective Jan. 5 after discovering that listed expiration dates exceeded the drivers’ legal authorization to be in the United States. Duffy had threatened to withhold $160 million in federal funding from the state if they failed to act on the non-domiciled CDLs. 

Duffy has separately revoked $40 million in funding for California for what he views as the state’s failure to enforce English language proficiency standards for truckers. California has filed a lawsuit over Duffy’s decision.