Judge Trenga Preliminarily Enjoins AAMVA From Transferring States' CDLIS Master Pointer Records to DOT, FMCSA "or Any Other Agency" in Illinois v. DOT

On September 17, 2026 (order date), Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia granted a preliminary injunction (ECF 113) in State of Illinois et al. v. U.S. Department of Transportation et al., 1:26-cv-2547. It follows an August 20 temporary restraining order (ECF 54). The order, in force “pending further order of the Court,” does two things: it enjoins AAMVA from transferring “to the Federal Defendants or any other agency the Plaintiff States’ CDLIS Master Pointer Records, as requested in the Data Demand,” and it enjoins DOT and FMCSA from adverse action, including threats to AAMVA’s or the States’ federal contracts or funding, over the refusal to transfer.

The “Data Demand” is FMCSA’s records demand; the phrase “any other agency” is broader than the named defendants. The order does not name the HSI subpoena by number or mention the 1:26-mc-00019 case; whether the injunction reaches compliance with HSI-DC-2026-081167-001 turns on how “any other agency” and “as requested in the Data Demand” are read, and that is not resolved by anything read here. In its reasoning the court says the Federal Defendants “are acting in coordination with and in concert with the DHS,” citing DOT’s August 11 letter that it would “fil[e] an enforcement action to enforce the [DHS Administrative] subpoena.” That is the court’s preliminary finding on a motion record, not an adjudicated fact. The motion to quash the HSI subpoena had been held in abeyance since the Aug. 20 order described in 2026-08-13–23-states-move-to-quash-hsi-aamva-cdlis-subpoena-judge-trenga-holds-motion-in-abeyance-aug-20.

Appeal: 2026-10-08–doj-appeals-cdlis-preliminary-injunction-to-fourth-circuit. The injunction covers the plaintiff States’ records; a separate union motion for relief for members in non-plaintiff states (AFT, ECF 131) is set for hearing November 4, 2026.