The federal government is now blocked from demanding access to data on 17 million drivers with commercial licenses.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, with a coalition of 23 other states’ attorneys general, has secured a preliminary injunction protecting this information, according to a statement from Brown’s office on Friday.
“When Washingtonians give the government their private information, it should be kept safe and secure—and it should only be used for its intended purpose,” Brown said. “This order is the latest example of our office keeping Washingtonians’ personal data safe from federal overreach.”
The injunction comes after the coalition filed a lawsuit against the government disputing the demand for access to the information.
The government first requested access to drivers’ information after Trump issued an executive order in April 2025 updating commercial driver’s license requirements, including English-language tests.
The injunction is the latest in a series of actions taken in lawsuits filed across the country as the Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to gain access to information about voters and state residents and threatened to cut off states’ access to funding or mail-in ballots. The Supreme Court ruled the ladder was unconstitutional.
The federal government has threatened to deny states $10 million in funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators if states don’t hand over driver information.
State representatives, including Brown, have filed additional lawsuits over the government’s demand for information about who received SNAP benefits, Medicaid, or financial aid.
The lawsuits, filed in other states, criticize these requests and say the government’s broader plan to use the information to build a shared database with other government departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is unconstitutional.