DOT and DHS Close 270 Commercial Driving Schools After Failed English Tests
by Jack Phillips, The Epoch Times.com, September 1, 2026
Multiple federal department heads on August 31 announced an inter-agency effort to revoke the licenses of 270 commercial driver’s license schools after thousands of drivers allegedly failed English proficiency tests. This is the “unprecedented fraud crackdown” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy teased on Sunday with DHS, ICE, DOJ, and the White House fraud task force. A DOT release said the administration will initiate the “emergency removal” of 110 schools associated with more than 5,000 CDL drivers who failed English tests, and will audit third-party CDL testers and state oversight.
Duffy said 160 more schools were closed for improper facilities, unlicensed trainers, and other issues. Some, he said, did not even have classrooms. “You have fraud throughout the [CDL] school system,” Duffy said. DHS launched a “synchronized single-day sweep targeting more than 200 training schools across 23 states.” DOJ formed a joint task force to strengthen border security and highway safety. Framing the move as an anti-fraud crackdown influenced by Vice President JD Vance’s White House fraud task force, Duffy said, “[To] fully root out the scourge of fraud, hold criminals accountable, and restore safety, we need the support of federal law enforcement.”
He said DHS will help DOT make sure illegal immigrants do not receive commercial licenses. Since early 2025, DOT has removed 28,000 truck and CDL holders, including bus drivers, for failing to speak English; forced states to shut down more than 30,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers; and removed more than 8,000 unqualified schools. In April 2025 Trump issued an executive order tightening enforcement of the existing federal English-proficiency requirement. Duffy said in February that CDL tests would be given in English so drivers can read road signs and talk to law enforcement.
The Aug. 31 announcement follows a string of high-profile crashes and the Yuma Sector bust of 95 illegal-alien truckers with California and New York CDLs that aired in yesterday’s rundown. A December 2025 DOT review found nearly 44 percent of the 16,000 truck-driving programs listed nationwide may not meet minimum requirements. Hot Air notes Duffy closed 7,500 schools in his first year and pulled more than 11,500 non-English-speaking drivers off the road.
