Attorney General Tong Sues Trump Administration to Stop Unlawful Demands for Personal Information of CDL Drivers

08/13/2026

Administration Threatens to Withhold $10 Million in Federal Funding Unless Sensitive Information of Millions of Drivers is Turned Over

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and the state of Pennsylvania in filing two lawsuits to block the Trump administration’s attempts to force release of a database of state-owned records containing the sensitive personal information of 17 million drivers. The U.S. Department of Transportation has demanded the data from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and threatened to terminate more than $10 million in federal funding should AAMVA refuse.

Attorney General Tong and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is an administration of the DOT, and AAMVA, as well as an additional related lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawsuits claim the DOT, FMCSA and DHS are violating multiple federal privacy laws by secretly setting up their own database with records extorted from AAMVA, with no guardrails on the use or sharing of drivers’ Social Security numbers and other personal information, and no notice to the public. The lawsuits also allege that the demand violates the Administrative Procedure Act because the federal government has no legitimate need to take over this database of state records, and it failed to consult the states before making this drastic change.

“States maintain driver records for important public safety purposes, and we take our obligation to safeguard that data seriously. We’re not going to let the Trump Administration bully database administrators into handing over sensitive records so that they can be misused for whatever the President’s daily whims demand,” said Attorney General Tong.

In 1986, Congress established the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) to provide states an efficient means of sharing information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants and determining if the applicant is licensed in another state. Since 1988, the DOT has contracted with AAMVA, a private nonprofit organization, to operate CDLIS for the benefit of the states.

To approve a CDL application, states validate the driver’s identity, medical fitness, immigration status and each applicant’s licensing and driving history in any state where the driver could have been licensed. This important public safety work is the responsibility of the states, not the federal government. Once a license is issued, states maintain a record in CDLIS of each driver that includes personally identifiable information such as the driver’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number and the name of state that provided the record.

Despite the states owning the personal data stored in CDLIS, FMCSA sent a letter to AAMVA, making the unprecedented demand that AAMVA turn over data for every driver in CDLIS going back five years. When AAMVA voiced its concerns about the new directive, FMCSA made an explicit threat to terminate all of AAMVA’s federal grants and contracts. Faced with that threat, which could shut down CDLIS altogether, AAMVA told the states it would comply with the federal government’s demand, requiring Attorney General Tong and the coalition to seek an emergency order to prevent the data from being turned over.

Attorney General Tong has joined fellow state attorneys general in several legal challenges against the Trump administration’s attempts to unlawfully use Americans’ personal data for undisclosed purposes, including immigration enforcement. That includes challenges to attempts to access the personal and sensitive information for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families aid recipients.

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing these lawsuits are attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the state of Pennsylvania.

Assistant Attorney General Vianca Malick and Deputy Associate Attorney General Drew Graham, Chief of the Infrastructure and Economic Development Section assisted the Attorney General in this matter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

Facebook: CT Attorney General

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov

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