Overview
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Florida's original-jurisdiction suit on Tuesday, leaving the interstate legal challenge closed without a ruling on whether California and Washington broke federal CDL rules.
- Florida brought the case after a fatal truck crash last year involving driver Harjinder Singh and accused the two states of issuing commercial driver's licenses to noncitizens in ways it says conflicted with federal safety and immigration requirements.
- California and Washington told the Court they follow federal testing and verification rules, with California saying it reviewed Singh's work authorization and that he later passed the required English knowledge test.
- Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued dissents saying the Court should have taken the case, with Thomas warning that allowing drivers who cannot read English to operate large trucks creates dangerous conditions on the road.
- The decision does not settle broader policy questions, and federal agencies and the administration's proposed limits on nonresident CDLs remain the likely next venues for dispute and potential rule changes.