Texas CDL School Shutdowns

Texas and Pennsylvania each had 13 physical commercial driver’s license training locations affected in a federal crackdown, more than any other state.

That is not a statistic Texas should shrug off.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration removed 110 CDL training providers from its registry in the Aug. 31 action. Excluding online providers and inactive listings, 83 physical locations were affected. The providers were associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed federal English-proficiency tests, according to Commercial Carrier Journal’s review of FMCSA data.

Federal officials also said another 160 schools had operated without adequate trucks, driving yards or classrooms. Over roughly 18 months, the U.S. Department of Transportation parked more than 28,000 commercial drivers for failure to speak English and required states to cancel more than 30,000 licenses that officials said were improperly issued to foreign drivers.

In this episode of Politics with the Big Dogs, Anthony asks the Texas question: Why did it take Washington to find so many problems here?

Anthony brings more than a lawyer’s view to the subject. He completed approximately 160 hours of commercial driver training and qualified to haul hazardous materials and operate liquid tankers. He describes the difficulty of controlling an 18-wheeler even with an empty trailer, then explains why reading road signs, understanding warnings and communicating with inspectors are basic safety requirements.

Texas began administering commercial driver’s license knowledge exams only in English on June 1, 2026. Interpreters are prohibited, and drivers who fail an English-proficiency evaluation during an inspection may be placed out of service. Those reforms matter, but the federal removals raise a deeper oversight question about how deficient providers were allowed to remain in the system.

Anthony also revisits House Bill 4688, a 2025 proposal backed by trucking and liability-reform interests. He opposed provisions that would have narrowed the evidence juries could hear during the liability phase of a commercial-vehicle case, including facts involving a driver’s qualifications. The policy debate remains important because training rules mean little if carriers and training providers face no meaningful accountability for ignoring them.

The episode then turns to Texas school choice. The comptroller’s latest Texas Education Freedom Account budget request says nearly 110,000 students have been funded, including more than 60,000 students attending private schools and more than 42,000 children learning in home-school or other nongovernment settings. Another 106,127 eligible children remain on the waitlist, about 9,000 are awaiting confirmation, and more than 44,000 families have expressed interest for 2027-28.

Comptroller Don Huffines is requesting more than $2.3 billion for the 2028-29 biennium. Whether lawmakers fund current participation, the waitlist and future growth will test how serious Texas leaders are about the school-choice program they celebrated in 2025.

In San Saba County, a local-federal partnership produced another accountability story. ICE says Emiliano Martinez Perez had a final removal order dated Feb. 29, 2000. He was convicted of cocaine possession in 1998 and drug trafficking in 2007, then illegally re-entered the United States in 2018. ICE and the San Saba County Sheriff’s Office arrested him Aug. 5. He now faces pending charges of kidnapping, indecent assault, unlawful restraint and illegal tattooing. Those pending charges are allegations and must be treated separately from his convictions.

The political segment examines outside spending in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. The episode was recorded before two developments. On Sept. 9, Talarico said he would oppose transgender athletes in girls’ sports if safety or fairness is at risk, reversing the position reflected in his prior legislative votes. On Sept. 11, the Senate Leadership Fund contributed about $43 million to support Paxton. Those updates do not erase the earlier record, but they belong in any current account of the race.

Finally, the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear Texas Public Policy Foundation v. Highland Park Independent School District. The dispute centers on a Whitley Penn accounting report concerning the Seay Tennis Center. TPPF requested the report under the Texas Public Information Act. HPISD withheld it under the attorney-client privilege, and lower courts sided with the district.

TPPF argues that government bodies should not be able to hide completed factual investigations simply by routing them through outside counsel. HPISD maintains that the report was prepared to assist its attorneys in providing legal advice and that it remains privileged. The report is not public, so allegations of missing money or misconduct remain disputed. Oral argument is scheduled for Oct. 8 at SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas.

Across every segment, the principle is the same: Public institutions must answer for public consequences. Texas can defend liberty, promote school choice, keep its roads safe and protect open government only when officials follow the facts before a crisis forces them to act.