Sponsors (8)
The bill tightens eligibility and English proficiency requirements for CDL holders to improve safety and compliance, but does so in ways that risk large-scale driver displacements, strain state administrative capacity, and could cut federal infrastructure funding to noncompliant states.
Commercial motor vehicle drivers will be limited to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or qualifying visa holders, increasing verification of eligibility for interstate CDL operation.
CDL applicants and holders will be required to demonstrate English proficiency via English-only testing, which is intended to improve in-vehicle and roadway communication and reduce misunderstandings that can cause crashes.
The Secretary of Transportation gains a clear enforcement mechanism (withholding covered federal transportation funds) to compel State compliance with federal CDL standards.
Noncitizen and many immigrant CDL holders risk losing their licenses within 180 days, causing immediate job losses for drivers and likely disrupting supply chains and local economies that rely on commercial drivers.
States could lose covered federal transportation and infrastructure funds if they do not comply, reducing dollars available for road maintenance, transit projects, and other infrastructure, especially harming states and rural areas dependent on federal aid.
Mandating English-only testing and revoking licenses for lack of English proficiency may disproportionately penalize competent non-native English speakers, shrinking the available driver workforce and reducing workforce diversity.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 25, 2026 by James E. Banks · Last progress February 25, 2026
Prohibits issuance or renewal of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to people who are not U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or certain eligible nonimmigrant visa holders; requires States to recertify all existing CDL holders within 180 days of enactment to verify immigration/status, English proficiency, and that testing was completed in English; and creates a lifetime disqualification for operating a commercial motor vehicle without required immigration/status documents (with limited exceptions). States that fail to complete recertifications or revoke disqualified licenses, or that issue/renew CDLs to disqualified persons or permit non-English testing/proficiency after enactment, risk withholding of defined federal “covered funding.”