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Tillis Reacts to Powell Probe; NC Pushes Action on Illegal CDLs

Carolina Journal Radio / Nick Craig
The Truth Network Radio
January 12, 2026 6:20 am

Tillis Reacts to Powell Probe; NC Pushes Action on Illegal CDLs

Carolina Journal Radio / Nick Craig

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January 12, 2026 6:20 am

A criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been opened by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, focusing on the renovation of the central bank's Washington headquarters and whether he was truthful in congressional testimony about the project. Meanwhile, a federal audit in North Carolina found that over half of commercial driver's licenses issued to foreign nationals did not comply with federal law, putting the state at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars in federal highway funding. Additionally, a controversy surrounding student loans for nursing graduate programs has sparked a debate over affordability and accessibility of higher education.

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You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need.

Book in minutes at vaccassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FMWBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.

We start off with a pretty big national story, a breaking late yesterday evening and into the overnight hours with some North Carolina tie-ins. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, focusing on the renovation of the central bank's Washington headquarters and whether or not he was truthful in his congressional testimony about the project that has been given over the last couple of years. Officials told the New York Times, which was the first to report on the story and broke the news Sunday evening, told the The Times that it centers on whether Powell accurately characterized the scope and cost of the renovation during the congressional appearances. Powell confirmed that the Federal Reserve had been served, releasing a video on social media last night and also getting some reaction from United States Senator Tom Tillis, who is not happy with the process as it unfolds. We'll hear from Tillis in just a second.

First, here's Jerome Powell. Good evening. On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas. threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned, in part, a multi-year project.

to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings. I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. no one, certainly not the Chair of the Federal Reserve, is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure. This new threat is not about my testimony last June, or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.

It is not about Congress's oversight role. The Fed, through testimony and other public disclosures, made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public. rather than following the preferences of the President.

That's part of the message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released to social media last night. Reaction started flowing in pretty quickly, as we heard from United States Senator Tom Tillis, the retiring Republican senator here from North Carolina. And once again, he is breaking with the Trump administration, commenting on X, if there was any remaining doubt whether advisors within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should be none now. It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question. I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Federal Reserve, including the upcoming Fed chair vacancy, until this legal matter is fully resolved.

This marks yet another situation that pits Senator Tom Tillis against the Republican-led administration in Washington, D.C. Obviously, some blow-ups in the early and middle parts of 2025 pitted Tillis against the Trump administration, and that all came to a head with Senator Tillis announcing in the middle parts of the year that, in fact, he would not be running for re-election in 2026, leaving a vacancy, an open seat for the United States Senate that will be coming up later this year as the race continues to unfold. We know on the Democrat side that the likely candidate there will be the former eight-term governor here, or eight-year governor, I should say, here in North Carolina, Roy Cooper. On the Republican side, you've got a couple of candidates vying for the Republican nomination, a former head of the The North Carolina Republican Party and RNC Michael Watley, as well as Dom Brown, seen as the two frontrunners in that race. That primary will take place.

Early voting on that actually begins here in a month, February the 12th, with a primary day rolling around. On March the 3rd of this year, with either of those two Republican candidates facing off against a very popular former governor here in North Carolina to replace United States Senator Tom Tillis, we will continue to track this story as more reaction continues to unfold. But again, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell served in the Federal Reserve Board, served by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia about some testimony given to Congress about a widesweeping overhaul of the Federal Reserve's headquarters, United States Senator Tom Tillis, against that move, calling us and blatantly claiming that the Trump administration is actively trying to take over control of the Federal Reserve. We'll continue to follow the reaction right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.

Speaking of reaction, it continues to flow into the state of North Carolina as well over a major story we brought you Friday morning here on the Carolina. Journal News Hour as the federal as federal transportation officials estimated that more than half of North Carolina's commercial driver's licenses, those are CDLs that are issued to foreign nationals, did not comply with federal law. In an official warning letter that was sent late in the day on Thursday, federal auditors reported that they reviewed 50 sampled commercial driver's licenses and out of those 50 found that 27 were issued illegally. While in eight of those cases, the state, quote, could not provide any evidence that it verified the driver's lawful presence with an unexpired EAD or unexpired foreign passport form. The letter from DOT says that serious deficiencies in the CDL program could result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars to the state of North Carolina as it relates to federal highway funding and the possibility of decertification.

Of the state's authority to issue CDLs. And when we talk about the money, we're looking at nearly $48.7 million that is threatened here from the state of North Carolina, as well as losing the ability to renew, issue new CDL driver's licenses, which could be a major impact for North Carolina's economy. Getting some reaction here from across the state of North Carolina, United States Representative Pat Harrigan commented on the report, saying, When over half of the licenses reviewed don't meet basic federal requirements, that's a clear breakdown in oversight. Commercial trucks are on our roads every day, alongside parents driving their kids to school and people heading to work. North Carolinians should be able to trust the system responsible for licensing those drivers doing its job.

Right now, that trust has been damaged, and state leadership needs to move very quickly. to m restore it. In a letter sent to Stein from members of North Carolina's Republican congressional delegation, Harrigan and his colleagues urged the governor to revoke improperly issued licenses as well as conduct a comprehensive audit of the CDL program with strengthening verification procedures and a return to the state in terms of full compliance with all federal safety standards. The federal audit was part of a nationwide audit of states in processing for ensuring safe issuance of commercial driver's licenses in this warning letter to North Carolina that was set on Thursday. The findings echo concerns raised in August by owner-operator Independent Driver Association, that is the OOIDA, which is the nation's largest organization representing independent truck drivers across the United States.

That entity previously called on governors to suspend issuance of all non-domicile CDLs. At the time, that letter was also sent to Governor Josh Stein, as well as many other governors across the United States. Last year, Harrigan also pointed to federal enforcement gaps highlighted by the audit. He introduced the Safe Driver Act. That legislation would create a single standardized English proficiency test during CDL issuance and renewals.

With federal law, having long required English proficiency for commercial drivers.

However, the bill aims to standardize enforcement across the state. The letter also reads in part: We write to express our profound concern and disappointment regarding the administration of the commercial driver's license program in North Carolina. It highlights the recent study by the Federal Reserve saying operating large commercial vehicles requires specialized training, skill, and judgment. When unqualified individuals are allowed to obtain CDLs, the likelihood of accidents, serious injuries, fatalities increase dramatically. The fact that such a large percentage of licenses may have been improperly issued raises urgent concerns that unqualified drivers are currently operating on North Carolina roads, endangering everyone who shares the highway.

Beyond these safety risks, continued Continued non-compliance with federal CDL requirements places North Carolina at the risk of having federal transportation funding withheld. Therefore, we urge your administration, talking in the letter to Stein, urging the Stein administration to take immediate and decisive correction actions. This must include revoking all improperly issued CDLs without delay, reviewing and strengthening testing and verification procedures, implementing rigorous oversight mechanisms, and ensuring accountability for any failures of the program. Additionally, we request a comprehensive audit of the state CDL program to guarantee that only fully qualified and competent drivers are licensed. These actions are essential not only to protect the safety of motorists and commercial operators alike, but also to restore the public trust in North Carolina's transportation system, as well as to maintain compliance with federal standards.

That letter signed by multiple members of Congress, including Pat Harrigan, David Rauser, Brad Knott, Virginia Fox, Mark Harris, Chuck Edwards, Tim Moore, and Greg Murphy, most of North Carolina's Republican congressional delegation signing on to this letter sent to sign in the wake of this major news and political story last week. We've got continued coverage this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in.

They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM.

WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. There's been a lot of policy over the last couple of years on higher education across the United States of America. We've got an interesting story this morning. A recent letter sent from Democrat Governor Josh Sein to the Trump administration, more specifically U.S.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon. To walk us through some of that this morning, Donna King, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Donna, this letter is to deal with some sort of cap at nursing graduate student programs. What exactly is going on here? Sure, sure.

It sort of feels in the weeds, but what we did see was the department, the U.S. Department of Education, has designated a few professions as not, as no longer being labeled professional degrees.

Now, this designation doesn't necessarily mean they're dissing the nursing industry or the engineering industry, but what it really means is that the professional in quotes designation means that you can borrow up to $200,000 for graduate programs in that field. It's a lot of money, a lot of student debt, and it can create a situation where tuition rises at the level that people can borrow. And so you end up with a cycle of folks who are borrowing up to $200,000 for a graduate program to then get a job that may not help them pay it off.

So what the Department of Education says is, all right, there are going to be a list of, say, six or eight professions, I believe, and nursing is one of them, that will no longer get that professional designation, which means that you can only borrow up to $100,000. for a graduate program in that field. What has ended up happening, though, is folks in nursing programs, a lot of educational institutions, lobbying groups, those kinds of things, have all said, we need to roll that back. You're going to keep making it too expensive to go to nursing school. People need to be able to borrow as much as it costs to go, which in this case would be up to $200,000.

So, Josh Stein. Was siding with that group, wrote a letter to McMahon saying, urging them to reverse this federal plan to cap the amount that nursing graduate students can borrow.

So he's saying you're going to make it harder, especially in North Carolina, to hire nurses, to get more nurses, to get people in the industry when we have an aging population and lots of retirees moving here. But the letter kind of misses the mark. First, This wouldn't affect 95% of nursing students. This is what McMahon's office says: that 80% of folks who are in nursing don't go get a graduate degree. They graduate undergrad, they get their certifications, and they go straight to work.

So it doesn't impact the majority of people who are in nursing programs, and it does not impact the ability to go. It really, all it does is limit how much you can borrow to do it. And what they think, what they're hoping this does, is make. Education programs, graduate programs, come more in line with an affordable outcome for folks who then would be taking out these big giant loans and having to pay them back over time.

So they said this is really about getting student debt under control, not necessarily diminishing the value of certain degrees.

Well, and you bring up the student death thing, and obviously, we're focusing here on a nursing degree in the nursing graduate program this morning. But overall, Donna, this has been a growing concern in the United States for, I don't know, maybe the last decade or so, maybe five years, depending on how you shake it out, that there are a lot of degrees, even here in North Carolina throughout the UNC system, that you can spend a whole boatload of money on to graduate and either not make a whole lot on the career or not be employable at all. Depending on what degree you ended up getting, this has been a growing concern for higher education for quite some time. Absolutely. And that's what we're seeing.

Even, you know, years ago, there were researchers warning that some of these professional designations aren't improving your ability to be hired. They aren't improving your education. What they really are doing is they're only intended to unlock higher levels of loans, more expensive loans that you can get. It doesn't really have anything to do with your qualifications, your certification means you're allowed to borrow more. And what that does is it drives up the actual cost because a lot of times tuition matches how much people can afford to borrow and, in some cases, not afford to borrow.

And it also doesn't really apply. This rule would not apply to those, for example, who go through a community college program, who are other levels of nursing care. If the majority of folks who aren't going into nursing are not in graduate school, it really does not impact them.

So, you know, that is kind of what this issue is. There's a lot of information about this on CarolinaJournal.com. Plus, we have Josh Stein's letter to McMahon. If you want to hear, see that argument and what they say. Is one of those stories where, on the surface, you say, why would nurses not be considered professional?

That seems crazy, but it really is, the truth is in the details of that kind of story. And this seems like it would kind of be on par and on brand with some of the rhetoric that we've heard from President Donald Trump about higher education, about degrees, about, you know, he talks a lot about bringing back American manufacturing and things like that, Donna. Many professions that do not require a $200,000 worth of student loan debt. Many of these things, you know, North Carolina's community college system is constantly ranked as one of the top in the nation. And there are a lot of nursing students coming directly out of the community college system.

So this seems to be pretty on brand with what Trump has kind of been saying both since he's been now back in office and what he was saying during the campaign. Absolutely. And that's the issue that we really have. We have a major labor shortage in things like healthcare. And there are other levers that we can pull to unlock some of the labor shortages that we have.

The SAVE Act is a great example. You and I have talked about that before, where advanced practice nurse practitioners who do have advanced degrees could have their own practice, things like that, things that are really going to bring healthcare policy into the modern era.

So there are other ways to address this, and allowing students to borrow up to $200,000 for these programs may not be one of them.

Well, and you you mentioned something earlier, and I know this is an issue in certain areas, tends to be kind of the more growing metro areas, Donna, is there is a major nursing shortage in a lot of places across North Carolina. And I would assume probably similar situations around the country as well. Oh, for sure. North Carolina is drawing a lot of retirees, which means that we're going to need a lot more health care professionals. And we still have certificate of needs on the book that really limit where they can work, where these resources can happen.

And so enabling healthcare professionals to practice up to their full scope of their training really would do a lot to get more people in those rooms, in those offices, and treating people and getting more access to health care rather than worrying about how much they're able to borrow from it.

So unlocking the potential of our healthcare labor shortage and those who are in the industry in the first place, that would go a long way toward improving the situation. Donna, you mentioned this full letter from Stein to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and some of the additional commentary. Where can folks get that? Absolutely.

Head over to CarolinaJournal.com. And if you need to go in the search, it's pretty easy. You can search that Stein Disputes Federal Loan Cap on grad-level nursing students. Again, you can get those details at CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the information this morning.

Donna King joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Uh oh. Let us go! You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age.

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WBT have got a really great event I want to tell you about this morning. The John Locke Foundation, that is the apparent organization of the Carolina Journal, is hosting the Carolina Liberty Conference. The event brings together policymakers, scholars, community leaders, and citizens from across the state of North Carolina to explore the challenges and opportunities of advancing freedom in today's political and cultural climate. The Carolina Liberty Conference 2026 will take place February the 27th and 28th at the Starview Hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina. And this year, we will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

Phenomenal lineup of guest speakers, including Chief Justice Paul Newby, State Auditor Dave Bollick, and more. Register for the 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference today at johnlock.org. That's j-o-h-n-l-o-c-k-e.org. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour as we continue our coverage this morning of, of course, a very active situation that unfolded in Charlotte back in August of 2025: the brutal slaying of Arina Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail. We continue to track the legal process that is unfolding over additional release of video surveillance footage from the brutal night in late August of 2025.

This morning, we are following how a federal judge has upheld an earlier order blocking the release to a Charlotte television station of law enforcement video and audio recordings. These would be most predominantly body cam footage from the evening, from the night in which it unfolded, all tied, of course, to that high-profile killing. U.S. District Judge Kenneth. Bell's order on Friday means that WSOC television will not get access to 911 recordings or body-worn camera footage from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.

Bell's order upholds a federal magistrate judge's temporary order that was issued one week ago, last Monday. Defendant DeCarlos Brown Jr. had requested a federal court order blocking the release to the recordings releases. Brown's lawyers turned to a federal court last week after a state judge had granted WSOC TVs access to the recordings in Brown's state-level murder case. And this is relevant because there is both two cases going on here.

You've got the state murder case that's going on, as well as some federal charges as it relates to those crimes. Brown faces a federal charge related to the same incident: the federal charge of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, which makes Brown eligible for the death penalty at the federal level if convicted. The U.S. District Judge and Kenneth Bell wrote in an order on Friday: Brown asserts that the public release of the material will prejudice his constitutional rights to due process and defense. Fair trial, particularly in light of the case's death penalty, eligible posture, and the extensive media coverage it has already generated.

Brown further asserts that the disclosure of the materials could endanger key witnesses and others depicted in recordings, either physically or reputationally, and notes that members of his family, the mayor, and others have already received death threats and other threats related to this matter. The government likewise expresses concern for witness safety and for preserving the integrity of federal prosecution. It goes on to read: The court has carefully considered these motions, briefs, and supporting exhibits for the reasons articulated by both Brown and the government. Interestingly enough, the federal government did side with Brown in this case. The U.S.

District, the U.S. Attorney's Office out of the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson's office, did side with Brown in blocking the release of. This footage. With that, the court finds that there is good cause, a good cause exists to enter into a protective order prohibiting the release of materials from the August 22nd, 2025 incident. Therefore, the court will grant Brown's motion for protective order as to WSOC television and any other individual or entity that counsel for the government or Brown.

Is looking for the lawyers working with the Zarutska family, Irina Zarutska, of course, the woman brutally murdered, will continue to have access to the recordings according to Bell's order. Brown had consented in a court filing late last week that the Zarutska family should be able to access those materials, and U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson's office had agreed to Brown's request to block media access to those recordings. WSOC had criticized the federal court request as improper, writing in part in their legal filing. Despite labeling his motion as seeking an emergency protective order, defendant Brown actually seeks a federal injunction.

Brown asks this court to prohibit Charlotte Mecklenburg Police from producing law enforcement recordings for WSOC-TV to review in compliance with the state's recent order. Further, defendant Brown seeks to halt WSOC's current civil lawsuit for the release of these recordings and writing, this motion runs afoul of the Anti-Injunction Act and must be denied. In joining WSOC and the Charlotte Mecklerburg Police Department from proceedings with the state court mandate would strike the sovereignty of North Carolina's court system. The parties were all present at a January the 5th, 2026 state court hearing and had the opportunity to be heard. The state court considered the argument of all interested parties and evaluated the factors as required under North Carolina general statute.

At the conclusion of that hearing, the state court ordered the production of those videos to WSOC pursuant to certain restrictions. Regardless of what WSOC argued, it did not matter, at least it does not matter as of right now, as U.S. District Judge Kennedy. Bell ordered on Friday that no body cam footage, no 911 recordings, no other material evidence from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department shall be released to any outlet or entity outside of the immediate family of Arena Zarutska. Obviously, we continue to track details in this very popular case unfolding here across the state of North Carolina.

We've got multiple stories as it relates to the release of these various pieces of information, footage, and 911 recordings, all those details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The most recent stories headline: Judge Block's release of recordings tied to Charlotte Light Rail death. Again, those details at CarolinaJournal.com. In some other statewide news this morning, an analysis by U-Haul places North Carolina third on a list of top states for movers in 2025. Many of you may be rolling your eyes this morning with the amount of growth and migration to the state of North Carolina, trailing only Texas and Florida as the most popular destinations for relocation in the calendar year 2025.

For the sixth consecutive year, California ranked last with the largest out-of-state migration. The growth index from U-Haul ranks states, metropolitan areas, and cities by their net gain of one-way trucks, trailers, and U-box containers arriving in a city versus leaving it during the calendar year. The data is compiled from more than 2.5 million transactions that occur annually within the United States and Canada through the U-Haul system. On a narrow list of metro regions analyzed by U-Haul, Charlotte ranked fourth and Raleigh ranked eighth, with Charlotte's placement being a slight decline from 2024 when the Queen City ranked second in the nation, with Raleigh dropping one spot from seventh where it was in 2024. Matthew Burgess, who is the U-Haul, who works for the U-Haul company of Raleigh, he is the president of that group, said, the number of jobs in the triangle is unrivaled to other areas.

Because of this, we've seen so many professionals moving to our state. I'm not surprised Raleigh remains in the top 10 metro areas because of how much construction I'm seeing. Everywhere I go, there's a new housing development or a new skyscraper being built. They are also expanding our highway systems to accommodate for that growth. On the list of other popular metro regions, Florida and Texas dominated the rankings.

The top three Metro regions were Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Texas has six metros total in the top 25 list.

Meanwhile, 12 Florida cities, as opposed to Metros, were featured in the top 25 list, including multiple on both the east and west coast of Florida. Again, here in North Carolina. Seeing some major inbound migration to the Tar Heel State in 2025.

Some major metros on the list include Charlotte and Raleigh. One other area also popping up, Garner, which is a suburb of Raleigh, ranked 22nd on U-Haul's list of growing cities. You can get the full details from this report over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. The story's headline: North Carolina ranks third among top moving destinations in 2025. Let's go!

You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it. But your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Good morning again. It's 5:52.

Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. United States Senator Tom Tillis is reacting to a major announcement coming out yesterday from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia as they have officially opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The investigation focuses on the renovation of the central bank's Washington headquarters and whether or not he was truthful in congressional testimony about the project. Officials told the New York Times, which was the first group media outlet to report the story, that it centers on whether Powell accurately characterized the scope and costs of the renovations during multiple congressional appearances.

Powell confirmed the Federal Reserve had been served. in a video posted to social media late Sunday evening, he said that he respected the rule of law and congressional oversight, but described the Justice Department's move as unprecedented and politically motivated. U.S. Senator Tom Tillis seemingly agreeing with some of the comments from Powell, saying in a post on X last night, if there was any remaining doubt whether advisors within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should be none anymore. It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.

I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed, including the upcoming Fed chair vacancy, until this legal matter is fully resolved. This is yet another situation pitting Senator Tom Tillis against not only the president, but the president's administration. We saw some of that throughout 2025, some very public battles between Trump and Tillis. It all culminated with Tillis announcing that he was going to not be seeking another six-year term in the United States Senate, announcing in the middle parts of 2025 that he was hanging up his hat, would not be running in 2026, leaving a vacancy for his seat currently held again by a Republican. That race we will continue to watch play out here throughout North Carolina in 2026.

We'll have additional coverage of this over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. In some other statewide news this morning, we are getting a more research. Reaction from North Carolina's Congressional House delegation as it relates to a pretty scathing letter from federal Department of Transportation officials to both Josh Stein and Paul Tyne. Stein, of course, the governor, Tyne, the head of the North Carolina DMV here in North Carolina. Over concerns that federal auditors determined that approximately 54% of licenses sampled in their audit, CDL licenses, were improperly issued, including license granted without proper verification of lawful presence in the United States or issuance beyond expiration of legal statuses.

This letter has drawn some pretty stark reaction here in North Carolina. The letter from, again, the state's entire Republican congressional delegation calls on Governor Josh Stein and other state officials to clean up the problem without having North Carolina risking nearly $50 million worth of federal highway funds, which the federal DOT has threatened to revoke if the state of North Carolina does not clean up its act within the CDL program.

Some of the other potential risks that the state faces, including losing their ability to administer a CDL program, meaning for anybody that currently has a commercial driver's license in North Carolina, what that process would look like is kind of up in the air and remains unseen this morning. But the state could potentially lose its ability to renew or issue new CDLs, some of that potentially taken over by the federal government. That could have a major issue for North Carolina. Carolina's economy. As if you were out on the roadways this morning, you are likely seeing 18-wheelers running up and down the road.

It would be a very tough situation for North Carolina's economy. We've got a full copy of the letter from North Carolina's congressional delegation. You can read those details over on our website this morning. It's our headline at CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Monday edition.

WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving. You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in.

They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Mm-hmm.

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