The Trump Administration will hold back $73.5 million in federal highway funds promised to New York, citing an audit that asserted the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles was illegally issuing truck and bus licenses to foreign-born drivers.
Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration of failing to revoke commercial learning permits and licenses for those born outside the U.S.
“I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers,” Duffy said. “I’m delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul’s dangerous, anti-American policies. My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads.”
The Hochul administration shot back, accusing the Trump administration of a pattern of retaliating against Democrat-led states.
“These charges are a baseless attempt to attack blue states, because as everyone knows New York simply follows federally issued rules when issuing commercial drivers’ licenses, something that even the Trump administration has acknowledged,” Hochul spokesman Sean Butler said.
“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,” Butler added.
Not the first time Trump administration targeted NY funding
Last year, Duffy threatened to withhold federal funding for Manhattan road projects if Hochul continued to support congestion pricing, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s system for collecting tolls from drivers entering Manhattan at 60th Street and below.
A December audit of 200 DMV records conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that 107 or 53% of commercial drivers’ licenses issued to foreign drivers violated federal laws, Duffy noted.
The state denied the claims, claiming the drivers were in compliance. In March, the FMCSA accused the state of not taking corrective action by rescinding all the licenses it had issued illegally.
Similar audits conducted during Donald Trump’s first term as president found New York in compliance, state officials say.
The $73.5 million withheld is 4% of the funding New York receives through the National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Program Block Grant program, the Transportation Department said. The money goes to maintaining roads, bridges and infrastructure.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Trump DOT withholds $73M from NY over foreign-born truck drivers audit
Reporting by Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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