WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, two Republican lawmakers called on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to scrutinize the operation of programs responsible for issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDL). This request comes in the wake of two deadly accidents involving drivers who were illegal immigrants.

Last month, Secretary Duffy initiated measures aimed at tightening the distribution of CDLs to foreign drivers. However, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky expressed concerns in a letter, highlighting persistent issues within what they describe as “CDL mills.”

According to Cotton and Barr, these CDL mills are subpar training facilities that prioritize the number of credentials issued over the quality of training and safety standards. They argue that these programs exploit federal regulations to produce drivers who are minimally trained and lack essential real-world driving skills.

The lawmakers further criticized these operations for offering hurried and test-focused courses that provide little to no practical hands-on experience. They warned that this leaves new drivers unprepared for the challenges of interstate trucking.

In their letter, Cotton and Barr urged that the investigation should thoroughly evaluate whether CDL training programs are adhering to Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) requirements. They emphasized the need for rigorous assessment in areas such as behind-the-wheel training, pre-trip inspections, and on-road proficiency.

The letter comes days after Cotton and Barr rolled out the Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining CDLs

That law was inspired by the August arrest of Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India who allegedly caused an accident by attempting an illegal U-turn with an 18-wheeler through an “Official Use Only” zone, killing three people in Fort Pierce, Fla.

According to investigators with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Washington state company that trained Singh to get his CDL attested that he could speak English, even though he struggled to do so proficiently.

Singh received a CDL from Washington state despite failing his knowledge exam 10 times between March 10, 2023, and May 5, 2023.

The driver subsequently received a CDL from California, where more than a quarter of such licenses issued to foreigners were determined to have been done so improperly, according to the Department of Transportation.

One week before Cotton and Barr sent their letter, Jashanpreet Singh, another illegal immigrant driver from India, allegedly crashed his semi-truck into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County, Calif., while under the influence of drugs, killing three people and injuring at least four others.

The Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 would mandate that all testing to get a CDL be conducted in English and give the Transportation Secretary the power to revoke a state’s authority to issue CDLs to foreigners.

Duffy had taken emergency action last month to clamp down on foreigners’ ability to obtain CDLs and threatened to freeze funding for California if it failed to take corrective measures within a month.

“While Congress works to pass the legislation, we strongly encourage DOT to use its rulemaking authority to make further changes like mandatory training hours behind the wheel for CDLs,” Cotton and Barr added.

The Post reached out to the Department of Transportation for comment.