Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the state of Pennsylvania today in filing two lawsuits challenging the Tru
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the state of Pennsylvania today in filing two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s demand that states turn over records containing sensitive personal information for about 17 million commercial driver’s license holders.
The lawsuits challenge what the coalition describes as an effort by the federal government to obtain five years of data from the Commercial Driver’s License Information System, or CDLIS, including Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information, the AG's office said.
The Trump administration has threatened to terminate more than $10 million in federal funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators if states refuse the demand, according to the attorneys general.
The coalition filed one lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), a private nonprofit organization.
A second, related lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security, the AG's office said.
The lawsuits claim DOT, FMCSA and DHS are violating multiple federal privacy laws by “secretly setting up their own database with records extorted from AAMVA,” and that there are no guardrails on how drivers’ Social Security numbers and other personal information could be used or shared, and no notice to the public.
“When Washingtonians provide information to our state, they rightfully expect it will be kept confidential and secure, and used for the reasons the government told them,” Brown said. “The federal government is violating privacy laws to serve a political agenda.”
The lawsuits also allege the demand violates the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing the federal government has no legitimate need to take over the database of state records and failed to consult states before making what the coalition calls a drastic change.
The coalition says FMCSA sent a letter to AAMVA demanding data for every driver in CDLIS going back five years, despite states owning the records stored in the system.
When AAMVA raised concerns about the directive, the lawsuits say FMCSA explicitly threatened to terminate all of AAMVA’s federal grants and contracts.
Faced with that threat—which the coalition says could shut down CDLIS—AAMVA told states it would comply with the federal demand, prompting the coalition to seek an emergency order to prevent the data from being turned over.
Separately, the lawsuits say DHS sent an administrative subpoena to AAMVA demanding the same data set.
Congress established CDLIS in 1986 to help states share information about commercial driver’s license applicants and determine whether an applicant is licensed in another state.
Since 1988, DOT has contracted with AAMVA to operate CDLIS for the benefit of the states.
To approve a CDL application, states validate a driver’s identity, medical fitness, immigration status, and licensing and driving history in any state where the driver could have been licensed.
Once a CDL is issued, states maintain a record in CDLIS that includes the driver’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, and the state that provided the record.
