Attorney General Jay Jones Blocks Trump Administration's Unlawful Demand of CDL Drivers' Personal Information

ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S UNLAWFUL DEMAND OF CDL DRIVERS’ PERSONAL INFORMATION

RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Jones and a coalition of 21 attorneys general announced a U.S. District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the Trump administration from demanding the production of a database of state-owned records containing the sensitive personal information of 17 million drivers and from terminating more than $10 million in federal funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) if it refuses to produce the database.

“The federal court’s decision to grant a Temporary Restraining Order is an important win for protecting the privacy of millions of commercial drivers,” said Attorney General Jay Jones. “By blocking the U.S. Department of Transportation from acquiring more than 17 million sensitive records and effectively pausing the Department of Homeland Security’s subpoena, the ruling ensures Virginians’ data remains secure and under state control while the legal process continues. The judge’s decision reaffirms long‑standing privacy and governance protections around state-owned driver information.”

Last week, Attorney General Jones 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.

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 an 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, Attorney General Jones and the attorneys general explain in the lawsuits, 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. 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.

Attorney General Jones and the coalition will now seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the data from being turned over throughout the duration of this case.

Attorney General Jones filed these lawsuits with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the state of Pennsylvania. Additionally, the attorney general of Minnesota joined the DHS case.

Published on: August 21, 2026

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