⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

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California Department of Motor Vehicles v. DOT — D.C. Cir. (argued September 11, 2026)

No. 26-1027 Argued September 11, 2026 Published September 11, 2026

The D.C. Circuit reviews a federal funding penalty against California's DMV. After a 2025 audit, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said California had issued non-domiciled commercial licenses that lasted beyond the drivers' lawful-presence documents. It instructed California to cancel them and reissue compliant licenses. California sent cancellation notices to roughly seventeen thousand four hundred drivers, then moved the cancellation date from January fifth to March sixth; the agency said that breached the agreed corrective schedule and withheld about 158 million dollars in highway funds. Under the 2024 rules, non-domiciled generally meant issued by a state to a driver domiciled in a foreign country.

California Department of Motor Vehicles v. DOT (No. 26-1027) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, argued September 11, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/recordings/docs/2026/09/26-1027.mp3
Argument listing — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit:https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/recordings/bydate/2026/9
Appellate docket — Justia:https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/cadc/26-1027
Final determination — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2026-01/California%20Final%20Determination%20of%20Substantial%20Noncompliance.pdf
Conditional determination — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/2025-11/CA%20Conditional%20Determination.pdf
49 C.F.R. part 383 (2024) — GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2024-title49-vol5/pdf/CFR-2024-title49-vol5-part383.pdf
49 C.F.R. part 384 (2024) — GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2024-title49-vol5/pdf/CFR-2024-title49-vol5-part384.pdf
28 U.S.C. § 2342 — Office of the Law Revision Counsel:https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title28-section2342&num=0&edition=prelim

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