Duffy exposes 54% of North Carolina truck licenses issued illegally to 'dangerous drivers'

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday revealed that 54% of North Carolina’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued to foreign nationals reviewed by federal officials were issued illegally.

The discovery came amid the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) ongoing nationwide audit of the state’s truck licensing systems. 

If North Carolina does not revoke all illegally issued licenses, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will withhold nearly $50 million in federal funding.

"North Carolina’s failure to follow the rules isn’t just shameful — it's dangerous. I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system," Duffy wrote in a statement. "President [Donald] Trump and I are committed to keeping you and your family safe on our roads."

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In a letter to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and state Department of Public Safety Commissioner Paul Tine, the FMCSA said the state illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs to drivers who were ineligible, those whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired and those whose lawful status in the U.S. was not verified by North Carolina.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said the level of noncompliance in North Carolina is "egregious."

To retain its federal funding, North Carolina will be required to immediately pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations and revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the federal requirements.

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The state must also conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet federal rules. 

Duffy set his focus on CDL issues in early 2025 after an Indian national who held a California-issued CDL allegedly killed a car full of people on Florida’s turnpike.

California has since revoked 17,000 problematic non-domiciled CDL licenses as DOT conducts a nationwide audit initiated by President Donald Trump’s executive order on truck driver roadway safety.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.