Oregon officials have stopped issuing temporary commercial driver’s licenses to individuals who are legally in the United States but are not permanent residents or citizens.
State leaders made that decision in March following a months-long effort by the Trump administration to overhaul such programs in dozens of states and tighten the eligibility requirements for who can qualify for such licenses. The federal government has threatened to withhold transportation funding from states that don’t comply with its updated regulations.
The individuals who previously qualified for these permits, referred to in Oregon as limited-term commercial driver’s licenses, included asylum seekers, refugees, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, individuals with temporary employment authorization and others lawfully residing in the country.
By law, drivers must have a commercial driver’s license to operate heavy trucks, trailers or vehicles with more than 15 passengers. These temporary permits have gone to individuals who are not eligible for standard commercial licenses, which require applicants to provide proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status.
One might reasonably ask why in the world Oregon was issuing these licenses in the first place. The constant exception-making and lowering of standards just seems inherent in today’s Democratic Party.
Facing increased pressure from the federal government, Oregon transportation leaders decided to shutter the program altogether.
The prospect of losing millions in federal funding will do that.
“This is not our preferred course of action, to be honest,” Amy Joyce, Oregon DMV administrator, told the Oregon Transportation Commission on March 12. But a “policy disagreement with the federal government is not going to be helpful when they seem to be within their rights to change the regulation.”
“We wouldn’t change if the feds didn’t make us, even though they’re right and we’re wrong.”
A review last summer by the federal government, initiated by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, determined that 25 states, including Oregon, had violated federal regulations by issuing these licenses to ineligible individuals or not complying with other rules.
Well that’s just what you want for people who drive semis and tractor-trailers.
Oregon DMV officials conducted an internal audit of the state’s program in the fall and found that only one of 500 individuals they reviewed would still be eligible for a temporary license under the new, stricter federal rules. The vast majority of those individuals had an Employment Authorization Document, which functions as a work permit for certain non-citizens, but were still ruled ineligible for the license for various reasons, according to a memo regarding the state audit.
So they all have an Employment Authorization Document, but were still ineligible “for various reasons” and Oregon gave them CDLs anyway. Great.
Derek Barrs, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, sent Joyce and Gov. Tina Kotek a letter Jan. 20 detailing findings from the 2025 federal review that determined Oregon had occasionally violated some rules under the previous regulations.
Investigators had reviewed 75 records of drivers in Oregon who had been issued limited-term commercial driver’s licenses since 2023 and determined that eight of those went to Mexican citizens who should not have been eligible. An additional two drivers had not presented sufficient documentation to prove their eligibility, the review found.
Based on what I know of Oregon’s governance, I have no doubt that the Oregon DMV is run just as well as every other department in the state. This is just the latest proof.