Overview
- California’s DMV announced a 60-day delay to March 6 for roughly 17,000 commercial licenses that were set to be canceled on Jan. 5 after federal audits flagged expiration-date and work-authorization mismatches.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says there is no extension and warns the state could lose nearly $160 million in federal funding if it fails to meet the Jan. 5 revocation deadline.
- The delay came a week after a class‑action lawsuit by the Sikh Coalition and Asian Law Caucus argued that DMV errors would unfairly cost immigrant drivers their livelihoods.
- State officials say the pause is intended to work with FMCSA on reissuing corrected licenses to eligible drivers and to restore issuance processes that federal reviewers previously halted.
- The clash follows heightened federal safety enforcement after deadly crashes and is acutely felt in Central Valley communities with large Punjabi Sikh trucking workforces.