Congress moves to bar non-English speakers from commercial driving jobs
S. 3013 — Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 · Filed by Tom Cotton (R-AR) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 16, 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, with no translations or multilingual options. It also mandates that applicants hold a regular driver's license for at least one year before obtaining a CDL, and gives the federal government power to revoke a state's authority to issue non-domiciled CDLs if it fails to comply with the English-only requirement.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandate to conduct all CDL testing in English only, eliminating multilingual testing options. The secondary provision (one-year holding period) is a separate licensing requirement.
What the text implies
- The English-only requirement may disproportionately exclude immigrant and non-native English speakers from commercial driving careers, potentially reducing labor supply in trucking and transportation sectors that already face driver shortages.
- No evidence is presented that multilingual testing compromises safety or security; the bill assumes English-only testing is necessary without establishing a public-safety baseline or comparing outcomes across states that currently offer multilingual options.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
Non-English speakers seeking commercial driving careers face a new barrier to employment and economic mobility, while the public safety justification for English-only testing is unsupported by evidence. The one-year holding period may also delay entry into the trucking workforce without clear safety benefit.