On November 10, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an administrative stay of the interim final rule Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL), 90 Fed. Reg. 46,509 (Sept. 29, 2025) that prevents the interim final rule from taking effect until further notice.

Accordingly, until further notice, the FMCSA declared that states are not prohibited from issuing non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits in accordance with the FMCSA’s regulations and guidance in effect immediately prior to issuance of the interim final rule. However, states that are subject to a corrective action plan, in effect immediately prior to issuance of the interim final rule, that imposes a pause on non-domiciled CLP and CDL issuance until evidence of compliance with FMCSA’s regulations and guidance has been provided to FMCSA must continue to comply with the requirements of the plan.

The administrative stay simply keeps in place the procedures that predated FMCSA’s interim final rule on non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs. But the court’s order made clear that the “purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motions for stay pending review and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of those motions.”

Public Citizen Litigation Group had filed the lawsuit challenging the validity of the interim final rule on states issuing CDLs to non-domiciled commercial motor vehicle drivers. The petition for review was filed on behalf of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and two individuals, but does not provide any basis for the legal challenge. The petitioners immediately filed for an emergency stay of the rule while the court case is pending.