The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear a lawsuit brought by the State of Florida challenging how California and Washington issue commercial driver’s licenses.
The high court declined to take up the suit filed last October by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in the wake of an accident in August of 2025. Three people died when the minivan they were in crashed into a tractor-trailer making an illegal u-turn on the Florida Turnpike.
The driver of that rig, Harjinder Singh, an Indian national who was reportedly in the U.S. illegally, had received CDLs from California and Washington. Flrorida’s suit asked the high court to rule that states lack the authority to issue CDLs to people who are not citizens or legal permanent residents.
The court refused to hear the case, but justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
That accident touched off a national effort to require all CDL holders to be able to speak and read highways signs in English. It also led to efforts to restrict states from issuing non-domiciled CDLs.
Shortly after the accident, Florida also began using its agricultural inspection stations to question truckers about their English language proficiency.
Since that accident, and several other similar ones, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration conducted an audit of state CDL programs. Several states, including California and Washington, were ruled to have improperly issued non-domiciled CDLS and were threatened with the loss of federal highway funds unless they reformed their practices.
It has been estimated that as many as 200,000 non-domiciled drivers could lose their licenses if the federal government makes good on its threats. At this time, that process is on hold pending the outcome of a court of appeals lawsuit.
Florida circulated this graphic at the time it filed suit against California:
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