The U.S. Department of Transportation is moving to revoke $74 million in highway grants to New York, escalating a dispute with Gov. Kathy Hochul over new federal safety rules on commercial drivers with expired work authorizations, the New York Post reported.
Federal officials warned in a letter sent Thursday to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles that an additional $147 million in funding could be at risk if the state does not comply, marking one of the most aggressive clashes between President Donald Trump's administration and a Democrat-led state over transportation policy and immigration enforcement.
"I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I'm delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul's dangerous, anti-American policies," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
"My message to New York's far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads."
The dispute stems from federal demands that New York review thousands of commercial driver's licenses issued to nonresidents and revoke those tied to expired work permits, an issue flagged in a federal audit that found widespread compliance problems.
That audit, conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, found that more than half of sampled licenses were issued in violation of federal rules, including cases in which expiration dates extended years beyond the drivers' legal authorization to work in the United States.
Federal officials say such practices pose safety risks and undermine national standards for commercial drivers. The Trump administration has increased scrutiny of licenses issued to drivers without U.S. residency following several high-profile crashes involving migrant drivers.
"New York's continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law," said Derek Barrs of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The administration has pushed states to ensure that commercial driver's licenses do not outlast the legal status of noncitizen drivers, part of a federal crackdown that has already led to threats of funding cuts and enforcement actions in multiple states.
New York officials, however, strongly disputed the federal action and characterized it as politically motivated.
"These charges are a baseless attempt to attack blue states, because as everyone knows, New York simply follows federally issued rules when issuing commercial driver's licenses, something that even the Trump administration has acknowledged," Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler told the Post.
"This continues a yearlong pattern of Secretary Duffy threatening to withhold money that keeps our roads, subways, and other infrastructure safe for New Yorkers. We will fight back, and once again, we will win."
The standoff could have significant implications for infrastructure funding in New York, where federal highway dollars support road maintenance, bridge repairs, and transit projects, and signals an escalating confrontation between federal regulators and states over transportation safety and immigration-related enforcement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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