English-only CDL testing blocks non-English speakers from commercial driving
H.R. 5767 — Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 · Filed by Andy Barr (R-KY) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires all commercial driver's license (CDL) testing—knowledge tests, skills tests, and entry-level training—to be conducted only in English, effective immediately. It also mandates that applicants hold a regular driver's license for at least one year before obtaining a CDL, and gives the Secretary of Transportation authority to revoke a state's ability to issue non-domiciled CDLs if it fails to comply.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandate to conduct all CDL testing exclusively in English, eliminating multilingual testing options. The one-year driver's license holding requirement is secondary but substantive.
What the text implies
- Non-English speakers may face de facto exclusion from commercial driving careers, potentially affecting immigrant workers and non-native English speakers disproportionately.
- The one-year holding period for a regular driver's license before CDL eligibility delays entry into commercial driving for all applicants, potentially reducing the supply of commercial drivers.
- Federal authority to revoke state non-domiciled CDL authority creates a compliance enforcement mechanism that could fragment interstate commercial licensing if states resist.
- The bill does not address whether accommodations for individuals with disabilities (e.g., visual impairments requiring audio testing) remain available under an English-only mandate.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Non-English speakers face a new barrier to obtaining commercial driver's licenses, potentially blocking career advancement and economic opportunity. The one-year driver's license holding requirement also delays CDL access for all applicants, though with a grandfather clause for existing CDL holders.
Named in the bill
Secretary of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, States and jurisdictions issuing CDLs, Third-party training providers, 49 U.S.C. § 31305, 49 CFR Part 383
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 6 Republicans.
- Oct 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $3,232,237 in lobbying spend. A filing names 46 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Andy Barr, the sponsor, reported $2,119,072 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $5,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.
- Fedex Corporation — $2,930,000 on 1 filing
- Owner-operator Independent Drivers Association — $302,237 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,109 characters) on Sep 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,975 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-25.
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