Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Wednesday his decision to withhold $40 million in funding from California. This action comes as California stands out as the only state not enforcing English language requirements for truck drivers.

The decision follows an investigation triggered by a fatal accident in Florida. The tragedy involved a foreign truck driver who performed an illegal U-turn on August 12. Duffy pointed out significant lapses in California’s enforcement of rules, which were implemented in June as a result of one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders. The driver in question had been granted a commercial license in California, despite the English language regulations being in place before the incident.

Truck drivers are expected to be disqualified if they cannot prove English proficiency. Duffy argued that the driver involved in the Florida crash should not have received a commercial license due to his immigration status. This incident has intensified political tensions, with the governors of California and Florida exchanging criticisms and Duffy using the situation to emphasize the administration’s stance on immigration in various interviews.

“California is the sole state neglecting to ensure that truck drivers can read road signs and effectively communicate with law enforcement,” Duffy stated. “This is a crucial safety concern that affects you and your family’s safety on American roads.”

In response, California defended its licensing practices in a formal statement to the Transportation Department last month. However, federal officials remained unsatisfied with the state’s explanation.

The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly pushed back after the announcement Wednesday. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor, said statistics show that California commercial truck drivers have a lower crash rate than the national average.

But Duffy said when he announced his concerns in August that California had conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one violation since the new language standards took effect. But only one inspection involved an English language rules violation that resulted in a driver being taken out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in other states were allowed to continue driving after inspections in California.

The Transportation Department said that to get this funding reinstated, California must adopt regulations to enforce the English rules and ensure that state inspectors are testing truck drivers’ English skills during roadside inspections and pulling anyone that fails out of service.

In addition to this English language issue, Duffy has threatened to pull another $160 million from California because of the way the state issues commercial drivers licenses. Duffy significantly restricted who can qualify for those licenses last month.

Three people died when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on a highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach and a minivan slammed into his trailer, according to Florida’s Highway Patrol. Singh and his passenger were not injured.

He is being held without bond after being charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. His lawyer has previously declined to comment on the case.

The crash received intense scrutiny because of questions about Singh’s immigration status and because investigators said he failed an English proficiency test afterward. Duffy and Florida officials blamed California as well as Washington state for issuing him a commercial driver’s license.

But California officials said he had a valid work permit at the time. And New Mexico released video of a traffic stop that showed Singh communicating with an officer effectively after he was pulled over there in July.

Duffy, President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have all be trading barbs with Newsom over the crash and whether Singh should have been driving a truck.

Newsom’s office said California followed all the rules when it issued a license for Singh in July 2024, while the federal government confirmed at that time that he was in the country legally.

Duffy and Florida authorities have said Singh, who is from India, entered the country illegally from Mexico in 2018.