North Carolina has become the latest state threatened with the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). 

Duffy said Jan. 8 that an audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration discovered that 54% of North Carolina’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally. 

He said the audit found CDLs that were valid after a driver’s lawful presence in the U.S. expired, CDLs issued to ineligible drivers, and CDLs issued without North Carolina first verifying the individual’s lawful presence in the U.S. 

“I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system,” said Duffy. 

“The level of noncompliance in North Carolina is egregious,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs. 

If North Carolina does not revoke all illegally issued licenses, DOT will withhold nearly $50 million in federal funding.  

Duffy’s announcement on North Carolina came one day after confirming that FMCSA was withholding nearly $160 million from California for failing to cancel 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses by a Jan. 5 deadline. 

Several other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Minnesota, have been warned they too could lose funding if they take action to correct non-domiciled CDL issues. All of these states have Democratic governors.