Sponsors (9)
The bill aims to tighten eligibility and testing for commercial drivers to improve uniformity and perceived security, but does so at the risk of large-scale job losses, supply-chain and infrastructure funding disruptions, and significant burdens on states and immigrant workers.
State governments and taxpayers could gain federal leverage to push for uniform commercial driver licensing and eligibility rules by tying federal transportation funding to compliance.
States and employers would be limited to hiring U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or specified nonimmigrants for covered driving roles, reducing perceived immigration-related hiring vulnerabilities in the trucking workforce.
Requiring English proficiency and English-only testing for covered commercial drivers could improve on-road communication and potentially enhance safety for drivers and other road users, especially in rural areas.
Millions of current commercial driver's license (CDL) holders who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents could lose their licenses within 180 days, risking widespread job loss, reduced driver supply, higher freight costs, and supply-chain disruptions.
States that do not comply risk losing federal transportation funding, which could delay or cancel road and transit projects and shift costs to local governments and taxpayers.
English-only testing and license revocations will disproportionately harm immigrant workers who rely on non-English exams, shrinking labor supply in trucking and likely increasing freight prices for consumers.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds a federal citizenship/LPR requirement for covered State CDLs and creates a lifetime disqualification for operating a commercial vehicle while ineligible, with narrow visa exceptions.
Adds a federal citizenship/residency requirement for commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and creates a new lifetime disqualification for anyone who operates a commercial motor vehicle in the United States while not a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or specified qualifying nonimmigrant with a valid visa (with very narrow exceptions). It amends federal CDL eligibility rules and definitions and prohibits issuance of certain ‘‘covered’’ state CDLs or authorizations to noncitizens, thereby changing who states may lawfully license to drive commercial vehicles and creating a new permanent disqualification enforced by the Secretary of Transportation.
Official title: To prohibit the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to individuals who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States or holders of certain work visas, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 3, 2026 by Garland H. Barr · Last progress March 3, 2026