Trucking Group Asks Federal Court To Strip New York, California Of CDL Authority

 by Noi Mahoney via FreightWaves,

The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) has filed a court petition seeking to force federal regulators to decertify the commercial driver’s license programs of New York and California.

The Small Business in Transportation Coalition said the U.S. Department of Transportation has failed to enforce federal law after finding states out of compliance. (Photo: Jim Alen/Freightwaves)

The petition, filed June 10, asks the court to review actions by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation and order the agencies to revoke the authority of New York and California to issue CDLs, escalating a dispute over immigration-related licensing policies and English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers.

SBTC argues that FMCSA has already determined both states were in “substantial noncompliance” with federal CDL regulations and therefore must be decertified under federal law. The organization contends that federal statutes require the transportation secretary to prohibit a state from issuing CDLs once such a determination is made.

The filing, made in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, specifically challenges FMCSA’s April 16 final determination regarding New York and also seeks relief related to a Jan. 7 determination involving California.

SBTC alleges the agency improperly failed to act on a petition it submitted in May 2025 requesting decertification orders against several states, including New York and California.

Virginia crash cited in petition

The lawsuit comes less than two weeks after a fatal bus crash on Interstate 95 in Virginia that killed five people and injured dozens more.

According to the court filing, SBTC points to the May 29 crash as evidence that stronger enforcement of federal licensing standards is needed. The organization alleges the bus driver involved held a New York-issued CDL despite concerns about English-language proficiency.

The crash involved a bus operated by E&P Travel Inc. Federal investigators are examining the company’s connections to a broader network of bus operators in the Northeast, according to CBS News. The driver, identified by CBS News as Jing S. Dong of Staten Island, New York, faces five felony involuntary manslaughter charges.

Compliance findings at center of dispute

SBTC’s petition centers on FMCSA’s nationwide review of state CDL programs following changes to federal rules governing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

The coalition says FMCSA’s audits initially identified 24 states and the District of Columbia as being in substantial noncompliance with federal CDL requirements. According to the filing, New York and California ultimately received final notices of substantial noncompliance after federal reviews of their handling of non-domiciled CDL and permit applications.

The petition alleges New York’s noncompliance rate exceeded 55%, while California’s was about 25% during federal audits. SBTC argues those findings legally trigger mandatory decertification orders.

FMCSA previously warned multiple states that they could face funding consequences or additional enforcement actions if they failed to comply with federal CDL standards for non-domiciled drivers.

Latest chapter in broader legal battle

The lawsuit follows a separate high-profile challenge brought by Florida against California and Washington.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Florida’s request to file an original-action lawsuit alleging California and Washington violated federal law by issuing CDLs to undocumented immigrants.

The case stemmed from a fatal crash on Florida’s Turnpike involving a truck driver who reportedly held a California-issued CDL and had previously been licensed in Washington.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trucking-group-asks-federal-court-strip-new-york-california-cdl-authority

"Zero Hormuz Dependency": UAE Races To Rewire Energy Flows, Bypassing Chokepoint Chaos

 The shuttered Strait of Hormuz is expected to reopen within days, though conflicting reports suggest the US-Iran memorandum of understanding could be formally signed as early as today, Thursday, or Friday. Either way, the interim peace deal appears likely to be signed within the next 48 hours, setting the stage for energy flows through the critical maritime chokepoint to begin normalizing, a process that could take many months.

The broader takeaway is that buyers of crude, refined products, and LNG now have to rethink their sourcing stack after the US-Iran conflict effectively shut Hormuz for several months. That means diversifying supply chains and reducing exposure to single-point maritime chokepoints. For Gulf energy producers, the Hormuz disruption will accelerate a massive push toward alternative export channels that bypass Hormuz entirely, potentially reducing Tehran's ability to use the strait as a lever in future conflicts.

In the first month of the conflict, Saudi Arabia's Hormuz-bypassing East-West pipeline ramped up to its full capacity of 7 million barrels a day, allowing the Kingdom to divert flows from Persian Gulf loading terminals to those at Yanbu on the Red Sea.

Separately, there has been a rush across other Gulf states to identify alternatives to Hormuz, and major plans to begin building new pipeline routes may soon be approaching.

Earlier this month, Sheikh Khaled Ahmad Al-Sabah, managing director of international marketing at Kuwait Petroleum, said Kuwait is among the countries that have reportedly held talks with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about potential cross-border pipelines that could connect Gulf oil production to buyers without relying on tanker transits through Hormuz.

New signals from Gulf states seeking to rewire energy flows emerged on Wednesday in a new note citing a top UAE official who said the energy exporter is preparing to have "zero dependence" on Hormuz.

"We're moving toward having zero Hormuz dependency and that's regardless of whether it's open or not," UAE's Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told Bloomberg in an interview. "It's going to open and we hope that will happen quickly, but we will not stop the new plan."

The plan includes major investments in pipelines, rail, and road links from UAE ports in the Persian Gulf to Dibba, Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and at least one new harbor on the Gulf of Oman coast.

Abu Dhabi has already announced plans to fast-track a second crude pipeline to Fujairah by 2027 and is now reviewing a third petroleum pipeline, as well as ways to export petrochemicals, LNG, and other energy products without relying on Hormuz.

The UAE can reroute more crude through pipelines to eastern ports, but LNG, aluminum, container imports, and other commodities are harder to shift. Dubai's Jebel Ali remains the world's largest container hub outside Asia, and moving more cargo through eastern ports would raise inland transport costs and boost shipping times.

In recent weeks, the Iraqi cabinet approved plans to accelerate crude exports through the Kurdistan-Turkey pipeline network, which would more than triple its existing shipments from 220,000 barrels per day to 770,000.

"Iraq is in a much more complicated situation because we know that most, if not all, of its oil transits through Hormuz," Alan Lemangnen, senior economist at QuantCube, told CNBC in an interview.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that the Hormuz squeeze is rewiring the Persian Gulf's energy map. Over time, that shift could render Iran's leverage over the Hormuz chokepoint far less effective, if not obsolete.

Perhaps Tehran has already read the writing on the wall. That may help explain why Iranian officials are now willing to play ball with the Trump administration through an MoU to reopen Hormuz and eventually enter talks over the country's nuclear ambitions.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zero-hormuz-dependency-uae-races-rewire-energy-flows-bypassing-chokepoint-chaos

How Deep Are The Newsoms In It?

  by Stephen Green via PJMedia.com,

This deep...

It seems impossible — or just too revolting — to keep up with the financial hanky-panky of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner (gag) Jennifer Siebel Newsom. But thanks to a couple of investigative reporters with stronger stomachs than I have, let's see if I can't put everything you need to know into one easily digestible column.

I love it when other people do my dirty work for me, so let's get started.

"Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list," Newsom practically boasted on Monday.

"He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us. They have not found a crime — they are simply trying to find one."

Well, let's see what Fox Business anchor Liz MacDonald and my old friend and Red State colleague Jen Van Laar have to say about that.

MacDonald said Tuesday that the DOJ probe "is about California Democrats’ modern-day machine politics," which she described as a "feedback loop of Sacramento-corporate lobbyists-governor/wife nonprofit-behested nonprofit donations-lucrative state contracts-Sacramento."

Don't bother writing all this down — there won't be a quiz at the end of today's column. You're welcome.

"The modern Sacramento machine trades corporate compliance and nonprofit funding/donations for policy access and state business," MacDonald added, and then explained how that grift (allegedly!) worked for the Newsoms:

According to IRS Form 990 disclosures, her nonprofit frequently buys from Siebel Newsom’s for-profit film company—Girls Club Entertainment LLC—writer, producer and director services and the licensing and production rights for her documentaries. Then it sells the docs to the state and public schools. 

 IRS records show that her nonprofit has paid her Girls Club Entertainment LLC roughly $1.64 million for these production and licensing rights since 2012, which includes a steady annual contracting fee of $150,000 since 2018.

TL;DR: Siebel Newsom produced unwatchable propaganda videos for children, for which Democrat-dominated schools then paid her handsomely. Or as MacDonald summed it up, "Over the past decade, Siebel Newsom has collected over $3.7 million in combined personal salary and LLC payouts funded by the nonprofit."

Then there are behested payments, which MacDonald explained are "a unique mechanism in California politics where an elected official asks a corporation, labor union, or wealthy individual to donate money to a specific charity, nonprofit, or government program." Unlike campaign donations, there are no caps.

As governor, Newsom requested a record $226 million in behested payments in one year.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars went to the California Partners Project," MacDonald wrote, "a nonprofit founded by his wife."

"Many of the biggest donors were corporate giants (like health insurers and utility companies) actively bidding for lucrative state contracts or fighting state regulations."

One hand washes the other with filthy lucre, if you'll allow me to mix metaphors. 

Which brings us to Jen Van Laar, and her hip-deep-in-the-muck wade through the Newsoms' finances, going back years.

Way back in 2021, Jen asked, "Somebody Paid $3.7 Million Cash for CA Gov Newsom's Estate - But Who?" But couldn't come up with any satisfactory answers. That's because the Newsoms alternately claimed that "the Newsoms’ cash was used to purchase the home but was done through an LLC managed by his first cousin," or that "Newsoms obtained a loan… to purchase the home because the sale happened so quickly that they didn’t have time to obtain a mortgage."

Then, California's First Couple played similar LLC games, buying a second home for $9.1 million in ritzy Marin County. "Based on my examination of 15+ yrs of Newsom's financial disclosures, tax returns, and real estate transactions," Jenn explained in March, "they absolutely did not have $9.1M in cash."

Clearly, somebody did.

The shenanigans were so egregious that — no matter what TDS nonsense Newsom's social media team posts on X — the DOJ investigation began under the Biden administration. As I quipped on Instapundit this week, maybe Newsom needs to take a break from social media and lawyer up. 

Then there are the real-world effects, the fallout from personal corruption and statewide, one-party rule.

On Tuesday, Victor Davis Hanson wondered if California is "reaching critical mass," thanks to one-party rule creating a "neo-feudal society" that is "hardly democratic." The most egregious example was the fate of 2014's Proposition 1, a $7.12 billion water bond "designed to solve the state’s chronic water storage deficit."

Even though Prop 1 is an actual constitutional amendment, including "$2.7 billion specifically designated for new reservoirs," an alliance of bureaucracies, elected officials, and green activists still managed to block any new reservoir construction.

"Adding insult to injury," Hanson continued, "Governor Gavin Newsom instead used $250 million from the Proposition 1 fund to blow up four dams on the Klamath River."

Californians voted for more water infrastructure. Newsom's party blocked them, and Newsom himself had four dams destroyed that had "once provided storage, electrical generation, recreation, and flood control."

Tell me again about Muh Democracy™.

All of which is my long-winded way of concluding that, as corrupt as the Newsoms appear to be, they are merely a symptom of the progressive disease killing our once-greatest state. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/how-deep-are-newsoms-it

These Are The States Starting To Panic About AI Taking Over

 Residents of Washington state are more concerned about artificial intelligence replacing jobs than workers anywhere else in the United States, according to a new report released in June 2026. The study, conducted by IP address provider Floxy, comes amid growing concerns about workplace automation after more than 54,000 American jobs were reportedly lost to AI-related workforce reductions last year.

To determine where Americans are most worried about automation, researchers analyzed all 50 states using several indicators. The study measured AI adoption rates among working-age residents, assessed how vulnerable local industries are to automation, and tracked search activity for terms such as "will AI replace my job," "AI taking jobs," and "AI layoffs." Researchers also factored in cybercrime rates, identity theft statistics, and the strength of state-level data protection laws.

Each state received an AI Panic Index score ranging from 1 to 99, with higher scores indicating greater levels of concern about AI-driven job displacement.

With an AI Panic Score of 99, Washington tops the rankings. Approximately 4,087 AI-related job displacement searches are conducted per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the country. Researchers suggest this concern may be linked to the state's close ties to the technology sector, as both Amazon and Microsoft are headquartered there and have recently announced significant workforce reductions tied to AI initiatives. At the same time, nearly one-third of Washington's workforce already uses AI tools, giving many employees firsthand exposure to the technology's growing capabilities.

Wyoming ranks second, with more than 20,000 residents regularly searching for information about protecting their jobs from AI. Although the state lacks the large technology sector found in Washington, around one-quarter of working adults already use AI tools such as ChatGPT, potentially increasing awareness of how automation could affect future employment opportunities.

Nevada places third on the list. The state combines relatively high AI adoption with one of the nation's highest cybercrime rates, creating heightened awareness of technology-related risks. Approximately one in three Nevada workers already use AI tools, and around 55,000 residents search monthly for information about whether AI could replace their jobs.

Massachusetts ranks fourth, with roughly 160,000 residents searching each month for information related to AI-driven job losses. The state's thriving technology and biotechnology industries are advancing rapidly alongside AI innovation, contributing to concerns about automation. With about one-third of adults already using AI tools regularly, many workers are becoming increasingly aware of the technology's potential impact on their roles.

Maryland ranks fifth and records the highest AI adoption rate in the country, with 36.3% of working-age residents already using AI in the workplace. Despite widespread adoption, concerns remain high, particularly given the state's large concentration of technology and knowledge-based jobs that could be vulnerable to automation in the years ahead.

Commenting on the findings, Floxy Chief Technology Officer Aimen Hallou said concerns about AI-related job displacement are well-founded: "These concerns are not overblown. AI was directly linked to tens of thousands of job cuts in the US last year, and that's only counting companies that openly admitted it. Amazon eliminated 14,000 corporate roles, citing AI; Microsoft cut 15,000, and both were explicit about why. The broader reality is that MIT researchers estimated AI can already perform the tasks of roughly 1 in 8 American workers. That number is only going to grow as the tools get cheaper and more capable."

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/these-are-states-starting-panic-about-ai-taking-over

Rural physicians are leaving Medicare faster than anyone is tracking

 Nationally, roughly 1% of U.S. physicians have opted out of Medicare entirely, according to 2025 data from KFF. 

While 1% appears to be a marginal number upon first glance, a closer look at where those exits are happening, and what is accelerating the trend, tells a more consequential story for independent physician practices and the ASCs that depend on them.

A 2025 JAMA analysis of Medicare claims data from 2013 to 2023 found that while overall physician participation in Medicare grew by 6.3% over that decade, physicians in nonmetropolitan counties were more likely to exit the program than their metropolitan counterparts. 

Physicians practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas — communities already struggling to maintain adequate care capacity — were also disproportionately leaving. 

Notably, female physicians exited at a rate of 3.16%, compared with 2.39% for male physicians, a disparity the study’s author, Christopher Whaley, PhD, of Brown University in Providence, R.I., linked in part to the fact that female physicians are overrepresented in primary care, where Medicare reimbursement pressure has been most acute.

The financial logic driving those exits has been building for decades. According to the American Medical Association, Medicare reimbursement for physician services has declined 33% from 2001 to 2026 when adjusted for inflation, with some fee schedule provisions unchanged since 1992.

“Unfortunately, physicians are losing money in multiple scenarios in medicine,” Taif Mukhdomi, MD, interventional pain physician at Columbus, Ohio-based Pain Zero, told Becker’s in 2025. “The most prominent loss of physician revenue is Medicare’s consistent decreasing of physician reimbursement in office settings while supporting hospital-setting healthcare services. This trend affects all insurances, as Medicare is the benchmark of most if not all healthcare insurance reimbursement.”

The compounding effect of that benchmark problem is what makes individual opt-out decisions a systemic indicator rather than an isolated one. When Medicare cuts, commercial payers often follow — making the economic calculus for staying in the program worse with each rate cycle.

The opt-out rate and practice closure rate are distinct metrics, but they trace the same root cause. Becker’s reported 23 physician practice closures in 2025, with continued closures into 2026 — including the shuttering of four primary care clinics by Johnson City, Tenn.-based State of Franklin Healthcare Associates in January.

Whether a physician opts out of Medicare or closes a practice entirely, the downstream effect on patient access is similar, and the entity stepping into that gap increasingly is not another independent physician.

Payer-operated practices now account for 4.2% of the national Medicare primary care market by service volume, up from just 0.8% in 2016, according to a July 2025 study in Health Affairs Scholar. In counties with above-average Medicare Advantage enrollment, that share rises to 5.5%. Independent physicians exiting Medicare are increasingly being replaced by vertically integrated entities.

For ASCs, that consolidation dynamic carries real operational stakes. ASC volume is largely physician-driven: independent surgical specialists who control their own referral patterns are the partner base that sustains most physician-owned centers. As those physicians face escalating pressure — rate cuts, administrative burden, rising practice costs — the population of potential ASC partners is narrowing, and the alternatives available to them increasingly point away from the independent practice model entirely.

The 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule moved Medicare further toward equalizing rates across sites of care, added 560 codes to the ASC covered procedures list and phased out 285 primarily musculoskeletal procedures from the inpatient-only list. CMS estimated the changes would reduce OPPS spending by roughly $290 million in 2026. For independent physician groups, site neutrality levels the playing field between their practice and larger, vertically integrated systems and hospitals, while also removing the reimbursement penalty for directing surgical cases to ASCs rather than HOPDs.

“If reimbursement suddenly shifted to site-neutral payments, private practices would immediately redirect as many appropriate cases as possible from hospitals to their own ASCs, since the financial disadvantage of performing cases outside the hospital would disappear overnight,” Brian Curtin, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at OrthoCarolina Hip and Knee Center in Charlotte, N.C., told Becker’s.

In terms of legislative reform, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in March introduced the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, led by Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, a Republican from North carolina. The bill would raise the budget neutrality threshold from $20 million to $54.3 million, index it to inflation every five years, limit year-to-year conversion factor variance to 2.5% and require updates to practice expense calculations at least every five years. If enacted, the bill would represent the most structural fix to physician fee schedule mechanics since MACRA.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rural-healthcare-people/the-medicare-opt-out-wave-and-what-it-means-for-ascs/

10 states where APPs outnumber physicians

 Physician assistants and nurse practitioners outnumber physicians in 10 states: Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. 

Becker’s calculated the total physicians and surgeons in every state between 2024 and 2025. This includes the following Bureau of Labor Statistics categories: anesthesiologists, cardiologists, dermatologists, emergency medicine physicians, family medicine physicians, general internal medicine physicians, OB-GYNs, general pediatricians, physicians all other, ophthalmologists, orthopedic surgeons and surgeons all other. Becker’s also collected the total nurse practitioners and physician associates in every state from 2024 and 2025. Becker’s used the total number of employed individuals in these positions to calculate the percent change.

Here are trends to know:

1. In Montana, NPs outnumber physicians, with 1,260 employed NPs compared to 1,090 physicians. NP employment grew 20% from 2024 to 2025 while physician employment fell 10.7%. 

2. In New Jersey, PA employment more than doubled, going from roughly 2,370 to 4,790, while physician employment fell 4.5%. NP employment grew 3.8%.

3. In Missouri, PA and NP employment increased 39.4% and 13%, respectively, while physician employment fell 6.9%. 

4. In Alabama, PA and NP employment rose 20.8% and 19.2%, respectively, and physician employment dropped 9.9%.

5. In Oregon, physician employment dropped 10.9%, but PA employment rose 16.6% and NP employment rose 16%.

6. Largely rural states Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho and Montana all have NP-to-physician ratios above 0.6, meaning there are at least six NPs per every 10 physicians. 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/workforce/10-states-where-apps-outnumber-physicians-6-notes/

Here are the states with their total physicians, PAs and NPs, along with the percent change in each position. 

State	Physicians		Physician assistants		Nurse practitioners
	Total employed 2025	% change 2024-2025	Total employed 2025	% change 2024-2025	Total employed 2025	% change 2024-2025
Alabama	5,260	-9.9%	930	20.8%	5,640	19.2%
Alaska	1,460	22.7%	700	4.5%	710	24.6%
Arizona	14,170	8.1%	3,750	5.9%	7,220	-4.2%
Arkansas	5,960	38.9%	850	-12.4%	3,970	18.5%
California	44,170	-33.8%	13,600	0.2%	25,120	19.7%
Colorado	7,610	-3.5%	3,270	2.8%	4,270	3.4%
Connecticut	8,870	6.4%	3,570	-3.5%	3,750	1.9%
Delaware	2,580	5.7%	860	24.6%	1,430	18.2%
District of Columbia	2,910	-19.4%	470	-24.2%	680	-13.9%
Florida	35,340	-11%	9,310	-11.9%	21,790	-11.7%
Georgia	21,330	9.2%	5,610	27.5%	10,460	-1.1%
Hawaii	3,550	13.8%	530	20.5%	550	17%
Idaho	2,810	17.1%	1,320	12.8%	1,750	11.5%
Illinois	29,670	9.1%	3,790	-3.6%	9,270	-3%
Indiana	15,230	18.1%	2,110	-1.9%	7,450	-0.3%
Iowa	4,460	8.5%	1,200	0%	3,240	15.3%
Kansas	6,210	16.9%	890	-11.9%	3,780	24.8%
Kentucky	7,790	8.3%	1,360	8.8%	4,770	1.3%
Louisiana	6,310	2.9%	1,360	-23.2%	5,380	20.1%
Maine	3,300	6.8%	1,030	10.8%	1,650	1.2%
Maryland	16,350	-0.5%	2,950	1%	6,710	1.1%
Massachusetts	19,420	-6.7%	4,470	3.7%	8,070	-9.5%
Michigan	23,740	-6.9%	6,310	14.9%	8,290	4.9%
Minnesota	14,590	12.1%	3,660	-3.4%	7,780	-10.5%
Mississippi	1,290	-50.4%	320	-13.5%	4,690	12.5%
Missouri	8,700	-6.9%	2,300	39.4%	7,710	13%
Montana	1,090	-10.7%	600	-1.6%	1,260	20%
Nebraska	4,270	12.7%	1,330	6.4%	2,340	8.8%
Nevada	3,220	-16.1%	1,090	-8.4%	1,930	-34.4%
New Hampshire	3,140	1%	1,060	0%	1,770	-1.1%
New Jersey	19,400	-4.5%	4,790	102.1%	9,950	3.8%
New Mexico	3,250	-1.5%	700	9.4%	1,770	-5.3%
New York	57,650	17%	19,140	-1.3%	22,890	12%
North Carolina	22,090	3.7%	7,490	-12.1%	9,800	22.2%
North Dakota	1,680	12.8%	510	-1.9%	1,290	2.4%
Ohio	31,040	-5.3%	4,900	8.2%	15,400	5.8%
Oklahoma	5,760	6.5%	1,770	-0.6%	3,620	19.9%
Oregon	8,440	-10.9%	2,250	16.6%	2,820	16%
Pennsylvania	32,170	8.5%	9,020	16.2%	10,670	-1.7%
Rhode Island	2,330	4%	810	35%	1,180	-1.7%
South Carolina	9,360	-0.5%	2,250	9.8%	5,670	-3.1%
South Dakota	1,530	-1.3%	680	4.6%	1,020	7.4%
Tennessee	12,470	-4.7%	2,240	-5.9%	12,150	-15%
Texas	54,320	2.6%	10,110	0.8%	25,970	19.7%
Utah	5,220	-9.8%	1,610	-3.6%	2,740	-4.2%
Vermont	1,480	-7.5%	410	0%	700	2.9%
Virginia	14,370	0.3%	4,340	22.9%	7,110	9.9%
Washington	12,370	5.3%	3,540	6.9%	6,700	39.9%
West Virginia	3,580	0.3%	1,080	12.5%	2,550	11.8%
Wisconsin	12,440	8.7%	3,580	17.8%	5,160	4.2%
Wyoming	730	-17%	330	-19.5%	440	0%