Tag: california

California Expected To Defy Federal Pressure, And Reissue 17,000 Non-Domiciled CDLs

California is expected to begin reissuing approximately 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses that the state had planned to revoke following federal enforcement pressure. The decision comes despite ongoing corrective action requirements from FMCSA and raises fundamental questions about federal enforcement authority when a state openly defies compliance directives.

State transportation officials confirmed to sources that the Department of Motor Vehicles will begin restoring the contested licenses to immigrant drivers who received 60-day cancellation notices on November 6. The state has not clarified the specific process but points to the D.C. Circuit Court’s November 13 emergency stay of FMCSA’s interim final rule restricting non-domiciled CDL eligibility.

What California apparently misunderstands, or is choosing to ignore, is that the court stay addressed only the September 29 interim final rule. It did not address the separate compliance failures FMCSA documented during its 2025 Annual Program Review, which found that approximately 25% of California’s non-domiciled CDLs were improperly issued under regulations that existed before the emergency rule was ever published.

The federal government threatened to withhold more than $150 million in highway funding from California over these pre-existing violations. Those threats remain fully in effect regardless of the court’s stay of the new rule.

Two Separate Problems California Is Conflating

Understanding California’s legal exposure requires separating two distinct issues that the state appears to be deliberately merging.

Problem One: The Interim Final Rule. On September 29, 2025, FMCSA issued an emergency interim final rule titled “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers’ Licenses.” This rule dramatically restricted the eligibility of non-domiciled CDL holders to H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visas, excluding asylum seekers, refugees, and DACA recipients. The D.C. Circuit Court stayed this rule on November 13, finding petitioners were “likely to succeed” on claims that FMCSA violated federal law, acted arbitrarily, and failed to justify bypassing standard rulemaking procedures. With this rule stayed, states can theoretically continue issuing non-domiciled CDLs under pre-September 29 regulations, except for states under corrective action plans.

Problem Two: Pre-Existing Compliance Failures. FMCSA’s 2025 Annual Program Review found California had been violating federal regulations that existed long before the interim final rule. The agency documented systemic failures: CDLs issued with expiration dates extending years beyond drivers’ lawful presence authorization, licenses issued to Mexican nationals who are prohibited from holding non-domiciled CDLs (unless under DACA), and inadequate verification procedures. These violations triggered a preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance under 49 CFR 384.307, a process entirely separate from the stayed interim final rule.

California remains subject to a corrective action plan addressing these pre-existing violations. The court stay doesn’t change that. FMCSA’s November 13 guidance was explicit: states “subject to a corrective action plan” must maintain their pauses on non-domiciled CDL issuance until demonstrating compliance with pre-rule regulations.

The Nuclear Option: Decertification

Under 49 U.S.C. § 31312, FMCSA has authority to decertify a state’s entire CDL program if the state is found in “substantial noncompliance” with federal requirements. Decertification would prohibit California from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading any commercial learner’s permits or commercial driver’s licenses, not just non-domiciled credentials, until FMCSA determines that the state has corrected its deficiencies.

The consequences would be immediate and severe. Every new driver in California’s CDL pipeline would freeze. CDL schools would halt operations. Testing would stop. Carriers would face weeks or months of disruption in recruiting new drivers. The ripple effects would devastate one of the nation’s most critical freight corridors.

FMCSA recently threatened Pennsylvania with decertification after an Uzbek terror suspect was found holding a Pennsylvania-issued CDL. The agency gave the state 30 days to respond and warned that failure to correct deficiencies could result in losing issuance authority entirely. California’s defiance appears far more egregious; the state is not merely failing to correct problems but actively moving to restore licenses that federal auditors determined were improperly issued.

Keep reading

10 Major Laws Taking Effect In California In 2026

The new year is right around the corner, which means a new batch of laws will soon take effect.

From banning masks for law enforcement officers and requiring gender-neutral restrooms in schools, to enhancing artificial intelligence regulations and completely banning plastic bags in stores, here is an overview of some major laws Californians can expect next year or late this year.

Law Enforcement Masks

Senate Bill 627 will ban law enforcement officers at the local and federal levels from wearing a face mask when operating in the Golden State.

It also requires agencies to create policies limiting the use of facial coverings. According to the bill, face coverings excluded from this ban include clear face shields that don’t obscure the person’s facial identity, medical masks, motorcycle helmets, or masks necessary for underwater use.

The federal government had sued the state over this new rule, saying it threatens the safety of officers who could be harassed if their identities are known. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Nov. 17 statement that “California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents.”

The mask ban is slated to take effect on July 1, 2026.

School Policies

Senate Bill 760 will require schools to provide at least one all-gender restroom available during school hours and school functions.

The bill allows schools to convert their existing restrooms to comply. The state will reimburse local agencies and school districts for the costs.

The new bathroom policy applies to both public and charter schools and will take effect on July 1, 2026.

Assembly Bill 495 will broaden who can approve school-related medical procedures.

Distant relatives and temporary legal guardians designated by a parent in a family court will be allowed to sign a child out of school and authorize medical care.

Supporters have said the move protects families that have been divided by deportation due to illegal immigration. But opponents said it could lead to kidnapping and child trafficking if someone other than the parents has authority over a student.

Taking effect Jan. 1, 2026, the law will also prohibit daycare providers from asking for or keeping immigration-related information about students or their parents.

AI Regulations

Senate Bill 243 will make California the first state to require safety regulations specifically targeting companion chatbots.

Chatbots are described by the Federal Trade Commission as artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can “effectively mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions, and generally are designed to communicate like a friend or confidant, which may prompt some users, especially children and teens, to trust and form relationships with chatbots.”

The new law requires a technology operator to make it clear and obvious to users that the chatbot is not a real human.

It also requires the operator to maintain a protocol for preventing the chatbot from producing content involving suicide or self-harm for the user. Details of the protocol need to be published on the operator’s website to comply with the new law.

The new chatbot regulations will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and chatbot operators will be required to submit annual reports on suicide-prevention protocols beginning on July 1, 2027.

Senate Bill 53 creates new regulations for frontier AI models, which include OpenAI’s GPT-4 and -5, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok.

Frontier AI models are defined as “a foundation model that was trained using a quantity of computing power greater than 10^26 integer or floating-point operations,” according to the bill.

Under the new law, large developers will have to publish their “frontier AI framework” explaining risk management practices, mitigation strategies, and evaluations by a third party. They will also be required to release transparency reports detailing risk assessments prior to introducing updated AI models. Non-compliance would result in up to $1 million in fines.

The new regulations will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

Keep reading

Newsom’s ‘National Model’ For Homeless Wracked By Fraud

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made reducing the homelessness crisis in California a top priority, saying the scale of the state’s efforts is “unprecedented” and calling for the continued expansion of his signature effort – Project Homekey – that has already cost $3.75 billion. 

But in a state with more than 181,000 homeless individuals, or about one-third of the U.S. total, Homekey has been marred by failures and scandals, including a lack of government oversight and accountability as well as a federal investigation into allegations of fraud in Los Angeles. 

Newsom, who appears to be preparing for a presidential bid in 2028, could make Homekey, which he calls a “national model,” a talking point in his campaign. The state claims the program has created almost 16,000 permanent housing units that will serve over 175,000 people. But since the state doesn’t track outcomes – whether people placed in housing saw their lives improve or if they returned to the streets – the program’s effectiveness is unclear, according to a critical 2024 state auditor’s report. 

“[Our budget] is bloated with homeless spending, a bottomless pit and taxpayer boondoggle that doubles down on failure year after year,” the Republican-turned-Democrat Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park said at a meeting in May. “Hundreds of millions of dollars on bridge homes and Homekeys and interim housing sites, and no one can even tell us which ones are operational.”

What is clear is that homelessness in California has skyrocketed in the five years Homekey has been in place, growing by more than 20%, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s an increase of some 36,000 people between 2019 and 2024.

Homekey has been touted by officials as a more cost-effective way to house the homeless. By hiring developers to convert excess motel and hotel rooms and other existing structures into permanent housing, the costs are two to three times lower than building new units, according to the auditor’s report.

Keep reading

Byrna Files Lawsuit Against CA for Blocking Ammunition Sales of Less-Lethal Weapons

Bryan Ganz is the founder of Byrna, the less-lethal self-defense weapons, which looks like handguns but shoot powerful chemical irritants rather than lethal bullets, designed to immobilize an attacker air intruder. The weapons are legal in all 50 states. But, in California, Ganz told the Globe that the state blocked sales of Byrna’s ammunition and launchers.

Why? We thought a less-lethal weapon (some say it’s non-lethal) would be a wildly popular option, and hailed by California’s Attorney General and law enforcement. The Byrna uses a pepper-gel projectile, like a pepper spray, rather than bullets.

But it’s complicated, the Gun Zone explains, thanks to California’s highly regulated gun control laws. “Because it doesn’t discharge a projectile ‘by means of an explosive,’ as defined by California Penal Code section 16520, it technically falls outside the strict definition of a firearm. However, this doesn’t automatically grant free rein. California law, particularly when dealing with weapons designed for defense, is highly regulated.”

And it’s further complicated by brazen gun control and anti-police politics.

In 2021, California passed Assembly Bill 48 by then-Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, which outlawed “the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, or demonstration, except in compliance with specified standards set by the bill, and would prohibit their use solely due to a violation of an imposed curfew, verbal threat, or noncompliance with a law enforcement directive.”

In 2021, with the well-funded George Floyd protests across the country, police  were confronted with violent riots and protesters, and forced to use crowd control measures. Assemblywoman Gonzalez claimed that her bill was in response to the unwarranted force used by law enforcement against protestors, journalists and others in the George Floyd protests. She objected to the injuries caused by rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, foam rounds, and other projectiles, the Globe reported in 2021.

Keep reading

Mitt Romney’s Sister-In-Law Cause of Death Revealed

The cause of death for Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law was revealed on Tuesday: Carrie Elizabeth died by suicide, the LA County Medical Examiner said.

“The L.A. County Medical Examiner determined 64-year-old Carrie Elizabeth Romney died from blunt traumatic injuries after falling from the rooftop of a parking structure in Valencia, California, north of Los Angeles, back in October,” TMZ reported.

s previously reported, Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law, Carrie Elizabeth Romney, was found dead near a parking garage in Valencia, California in October.

Authorities responded to a call on a Friday night in mid-October on reports of a dead woman near a parking garage.

The woman, later identified as former Senator Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law, Carrie Romney, plunged from a five-story structure near the Valencia Town Center mall.

The 64-year-old died on scene.

Carrie Romney was married to former Senator Mitt Romney’s older brother, George Scott Romney, 81.

According to divorce records obtained by The New York Post, George Romney was trying to make sure that his wife Carrie got awarded nothing in a bitter divorce battle.

George Romney, a prominent lawyer with a very powerful and politically connected brother, sought to block his wife from receiving spousal support and said they had no shared property.

The two were married for 8 years, and their divorce was not final at the time Carried plunged to her death.

“Our family is heartbroken by the loss of Carrie, who brought warmth and love to all our lives,” Mitt Romney previously said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We ask for privacy during this difficult time.”

In September 2023, Mitt Romney announced he would not seek reelection to the US Senate.

“At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s,” Romney, who was 76 at the time, said. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”

Keep reading

HORROR: Illegal Alien with Several DUIs and Deportation Order Kills 8-Year-Old Girl in Fiery SoCal Crash, Multiple Victims Injured

Gavin Newsom’s far-left sanctuary policies have deadly consequences.

An illegal alien took the life of an 8-year-old girl last weekend near San Diego, California, in a deadly collision. He had previous DUIs and was supposed to have been deported in 2023.

25-year-old Bryan Josue Alva-Rodriguez, who is originally from Guatemala, was charged with a DUI, vehicular manslaughter, and murder this past Wednesday.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the collision happened in the afternoon on the rural county Highway S-2.

Fox News Reported:

An illegal immigrant previously charged with DUIs and had an outstanding 2023 deportation has been charged in connection with a deadly head-on collision that killed an 8-year-old California girl over the weekend, authorities said.

Bryan Josue Alva-Rodriguez, 25, a Guatemalan citizen, was arraigned in the hospital, where he is being treated for his injuries, Wednesday on murder, vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges, according to California Highway Patrol.

“Now an innocent life has been lost in a tragedy that could have been prevented,” the San Diego office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wrote on X. “An immigration detainer will be placed on Alva as soon as he is formally charged.”

Alva-Rodriguez was driving a Toyota Tacoma and crossed the double yellow line. He hit a Toyota Camry that included three child passengers, ages 8, 5, and 4. All three children were taken to the hospital. The two younger ones, both boys, survived. The girl died from her injuries at the hospital.

Alva-Rodriguez’s truck also hit a Ford F-350 towing a trailer, causing him to flip his own truck, which then caught fire.

Fire authorities were also on the scene to help with the victims. They also had to rescue one person trapped in their vehicle and successfully put out the vehicle fire.

The massive collision resulted in five people being airlifted to the hospital, with four helicopters. The other three injured were taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Alva-Rodriguez originally entered the US illegally in 2018 and was taken into custody by the Border Patrol in Calexico, California. According to ICE, he was released after being given a notice to appear before an immigration judge.

While here illegally, he managed to get two DUIs within about 7 months of each other in September 2020 and April 2021. In March of 2023, he was given a deportation order by a judge.

Alva-Rodriguez did not follow the judge’s orders and stayed in the United States.

Keep reading

ZERO SHAME: California Governor Gavin Newsom Blames TRUMP for Lack of Rebuilding in L.A. a Year After Wildfires

Almost a year after the wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in southern California, failed Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to blame President Trump for the lack of rebuilding. It takes a special level of shamelessness to do this.

Newsom should be heckled off of the national stage for this. Instead, some media outlets are actually taking it seriously.

From Politico:

Newsom accuses Trump of wildfire aid snub

Gavin Newsom accused the Trump administration of rebuffing a meeting request as the California governor seeks more wildfire recovery aid in Washington, casting the refusal to make a staffer available as an unprecedented breach.

The Democratic governor’s staff said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Resources Management Agency, told them FEMA’s acting director was unavailable and did not offer another official to meet with as Newsom presses Congress for $33.9 billion. The Newsom administration framed that freezeout as part of a larger abandonment of the Los Angeles area, arguing the White House has broken with precedent by not sending a funding proposal to Congress.

“The Trump Administration refused a routine wildfire recovery meeting — a rejection we’ve never seen before — even as LA families near a year without long-term federal financial help,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. “The message to survivors is unmistakable: Donald Trump doesn’t care about them.”

To be clear, there has been no rebuilding in Los Angeles in a year. A YEAR.

Keep reading

Gavin Newsom Accused of Protecting Illegal Alien Charged with Killing 11-Year-Old Boy After California Refuses ICE Detainer

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a proponent of California’s sanctuary state policy, is being accused of protecting an illegal alien accused of killing 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz the day before Thanksgiving.

As Breitbart News reported, illegal alien Hector Balderas-Aheelor of Mexico has been arrested by the Escondido Police Department and charged with felony hit-and-run causing death or injury.

Police allege that while Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz was playing in his front yard and went to retrieve his soccer ball after it rolled into the street, Balderas-Aheelor hit him and left him to die.

Aiden ultimately died from his injuries on Thanksgiving Day.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials are pleading with Newsom’s office to allow Escondido law enforcement to cooperate with ICE so that if Balderas-Aheelor is released from jail before he is convicted, he can be turned over to federal agents rather than going back into the community.

Newsom’s office denied refusing the ICE detainer on Balderas-Aheelor, claiming “California honors federal criminal warrants.”

“This is a complete lie,” Newsom’s office wrote in response to a clip that stated California had refused the ICE detainer. “As we have repeatedly said: The state coordinates with ICE on the deportation of convicted criminals. California honors federal criminal warrants. Nothing prohibits the federal government from doing its job in this case.”

Keep reading

California’s Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta Announces Online Portal to Doxx and Report ICE Activity in Order to Protect Illegal Aliens

California’s Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced an online portal for people to doxx ICE agents and report activity by federal agents.

The Trump Administration is conducting lawful immigration raids across the country and Rob Bonta is spending taxpayer money to protect illegal aliens.

Bonta said federal immigration officers are conducting raids and arrests that resemble abductions.

“Californians are scared,” Bonta said as he trashed the Trump Administration.

Illegal aliens are not Californians.

“Our job at the California Department of Justice is simple: To safeguard the rights of everyone who calls this state home no matter their background their status or their zip code,” he said.

“Nobody should be living in fear,” Bonta said.

Keep reading

Eric Swalwell’s Last Stand: A Frivolous Lawsuit to Distract from His Disqualification for California Governor

‘Dead in the water’ is the only accurate description of Congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign for California governor.

Two weeks ago in my article in the Gateway Pundit, “DISQUALIFIED! – Congressman Eric Swalwell Names Washington, DC Home as ‘Principal Residence,’ I documented that Swalwell is ineligible for the California governorship because he is in violation of the California Constitution and Election Law 349, which requires candidates to make California their “domicile” for 5 years prior to an election. Days later, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice for potential mortgage fraud violations.

Late last week in response, Swalwell posted a video on Twitter/X attempting to regain control of the narrative, announcing his filing of a civil lawsuit against Pulte and the FHFA.

“I’ve decided to go on offense. Donald Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice against his political opponents… So I have brought a privacy suit and a First Amendment retaliation suit against the administration. I hope you take a look at it.”

Keep reading