Virginia’s Attorney General reacted to a federal judge’s ruling to grant a restraining order against the Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, which demanded that states provide state-owned Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) information.
“The federal court’s decision to grant a Temporary Restraining Order is an important win for protecting the privacy of millions of commercial drivers,” said Attorney General Jay Jones. “By blocking the U.S. Department of Transportation from acquiring more than 17 million sensitive records and effectively pausing the Department of Homeland Security’s subpoena, the ruling ensures Virginians’ data remains secure and under state control while the legal process continues. The judge’s decision reaffirms long‑standing privacy and governance protections around state-owned driver information.”
Judge Anthony Trenga, of the Eastern District of Virginia, sided with the states, at least temporarily in a hearing last Thursday.
A group of Attorneys General filed a pair of lawsuits against the Trump administration for demanding production of a database of state-owned records containing the sensitive personal information of millions of drivers s and threatening to terminate more than $10 million in federal funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) if it refuses.
The group of attorneys general included those from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the state of Pennsylvania.
Specifically, as earlier reported, the group filed the suits against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is an administration of the DOT and AAMVA, as well as a second, related lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawsuits claim the DOT, FMSCA, and DHS are violating multiple federal privacy laws, among other federal laws, by secretly setting up their own database with records extorted from AAMVA, with no guardrails on the use or sharing of drivers’ Social Security numbers and other personal information, and no notice to the public, according to a release issued by Maryland AG Anthony Brown.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy responded to the initial filing of the suit in a television interview.
“Every administration since 1988 has had access to this basic database, so let’s be clear on what this ridiculous lawsuit is really all about. These radical state AGs want to make it harder for my Department to enforce the rules of the road and easier for dangerous illegal immigrant truck drivers to operate a big rig,” Duffy said. “They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do. We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers.”
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
