The Trump administration is withholding $40.6 million in transportation funding from California after an investigation found the state failed to comply with the federal English language proficiency requirement for truck drivers, officials announced on Oct. 15.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will keep $40.7 million in federal grant funding for California from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). The funding is awarded to states to conduct roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education campaigns.
“The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore [the U.S. Department of Transportation’s] English language requirements for truckers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X. “You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of American lives.”
Duffy announced this summer that he would enforce the Trump administration’s new English language requirements for truck drivers, threatening to withhold the grant funds for states that did not meet the standards.
California, Washington, and New Mexico were given until Sept. 26 to comply with new federal rules requiring truck drivers to be proficient in the English language. States that failed to comply were told they risked losing up to 100 percent of their MCSAP grants.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo denied the federal government’s accusations.
Hellbound and Down 