The non-domiciled CDL rule has been in force since March 16, and the drivers it affects have spent the summer in limbo: licenses cancelled in some states, renewals refused in others, a lawsuit pending but no ruling. That changes this month. Between September 11 and September 28, federal appeals courts will hear oral arguments in three related cases: the rule itself, and two fights over the highway money FMCSA withheld from states that did not cancel licenses fast enough.
September 15: Lujan v. FMCSA
The main event is Lujan v. FMCSA (docket 26-1032), set for 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 15 before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit: Judges Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard and J. Michelle Childs. The lead petitioner is Jorge Rivera Lujan, an owner-operator who came to the United States as a child and holds Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status; court filings describe a domestic driving history and a clean record. He is joined by unions, states and other groups. Their argument is that there is no evidence non-citizen drivers are less safe, and that non-domiciled and citizen drivers pass the same CDL knowledge and skills tests.
The case has already gone one round. FMCSA's first version was an interim final rule, published September 29, 2025 and effective the same day, that would have barred most non-citizens from holding a CDL as an 'imminent hazard to public safety.' Lujan and his coalition sued, and on November 10 the D.C. Circuit put the rule on administrative hold. On February 13 the agency came back with a final rule aimed at the same drivers but with a different justification. In the rule's own words, its necessity 'stems not from a specific crash count, but from a critical safety vulnerability: the inability of SDLAs to verify foreign driver histories.' FMCSA also said states' reliance on work-permit documents had 'proven administratively unworkable and resulted in widespread regulatory non-compliance.' The rule puts the affected population at roughly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders, about five percent of the 3.8 million interstate CDLs active in 2024, plus some 20,000 learner's-permit holders. The final rule took effect March 16. Since then an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) alone no longer qualifies a driver for a non-domiciled CDL. Eligibility is narrowed to three employment-based visa categories, H-2A, H-2B and E-2, which leaves DACA recipients, asylum seekers and refugees out. Lujan sued again, and the D.C. Circuit declined to pause the rule while the case proceeds, which is why it is in effect today.
What a hearing is and is not
September 15 is oral argument, not a decision. The panel will question both sides and rule later, typically weeks to months afterward. Nothing changes for drivers on the day of the hearing. The rule stays in effect until the court says otherwise.
September 11 and 28: the money cases
Four days before Lujan, on September 11, the same D.C. Circuit hears California's lawsuit (California DMV v. DOT, docket 26-1027) over the roughly $160 million in federal highway funding FMCSA withheld after the state missed the agency's deadline for fixing non-domiciled CDL compliance problems. California's position in its briefs is that no federal law requires a non-domiciled CDL to expire on or before the date on the driver's legal-presence documents, and that when it cancelled about 13,000 such licenses on March 6, down from the roughly 17,000 FMCSA had originally flagged, it did so under its own state rules, not federal ones. A separate suit by the drivers whose licenses California cancelled is tied to the same question.
New York's turn comes September 28 before the Second Circuit. On April 16 FMCSA announced it was withholding about $73 million from the state because it did not revoke non-domiciled CDLs the agency believed were improperly issued. New York called the move political payback and Attorney General Letitia James petitioned the Second Circuit (docket 26-1097) to get the money back.
What it means for drivers and carriers
Checklist
If you hold a non-domiciled CDL, check its expiration against the date on your immigration document. In most states the license now expires with the document, and some states have cancelled licenses early.
Carriers: run your driver list against license status now, not after a roadside stop. A cancelled CDL found at a scale is an out-of-service order and a fine for the company.
DACA, asylum and refugee status no longer qualify for a new or renewed non-domiciled CDL under the rule as it stands, and an EAD by itself is not enough. Only H-2A, H-2B and E-2 visa holders remain eligible.
Watch the D.C. Circuit docket after September 15. A ruling for Lujan could vacate the rule or send it back to FMCSA; a ruling for the agency leaves everything in place.
If your state is California or New York, the funding cases matter to you indirectly: a state that loses federal money has less to spend on the licensing offices you deal with.
For a year the argument over non-domiciled CDLs has been fought in press releases and at DMV counters. For seventeen days in September it moves to the only place that can actually settle it.
FMCSA rules, explained for the cab
CDL, ELD and compliance coverage for drivers, owner-operators and fleets on Qrylo.