WASHINGTON—Daily Wire investigative journalist Luke Rosiak was awarded the prestigious Dao Prize on Wednesday night for his work covering extraordinary government waste.
Rosiak is the winner in the Best Reporting on Government Waste category, a special category at this year’s awards that was created due to the exceptional reporting done around Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. His prize-winning investigation, “Inside The Now-Shuttered Federal Agency Where Employees Lived ‘Like Reigning Kings,’” detailed the unchecked spending that went on for decades at an agency that most Americans never knew existed.
“I want to issue a hearty congratulations to an amazing reporter who shuttered an agency that I’ve never heard of,” said conservative radio host Vince Coglianese, who presented the award at the event sponsored by the Young America Foundation’s National Journalism Center. “And boy were these people wasting your money like it was their job.”
Rosiak’s story took readers inside the little-known Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which occupied some of the priciest real estate in Washington, D.C., but did little to nothing of value for taxpayers. Employees spent taxpayer money on exotic vacations, portraits of themselves, and even to boost their own side-projects.
It was just one of Rosiak’s eye-opening investigations this year on the topic of government waste, which became his main focus after Donald Trump announced that he would give DOGE the power to do something about the sort of waste that Rosiak has been exposing for more than a decade.
Other investigations by Rosiak this year uncovered massive abuse of the federal food stamp system, a three-part series on mismanagement of the USAID-linked African Development Foundation, and the origin story of how a woke White House office created by Barack Obama was transformed into DOGE.
The Dao Prize was established in 2023 to “recognize excellence in investigative journalism,” and set out to put a spotlight on “courageous journalists” who for years have been ignored by the legacy media. This was the first year it recognized reporters in the field of government waste.
“Luke is one of the most tenacious reporters in the business, and he’s ultimately motivated by shining a light where few other reporters are looking,” said Brent Scher, The Daily Wire’s Editor-in-Chief. “When he set out last year to put his full focus on government waste, we all knew it would have an impact. It’s great to see it recognized with this prestigious award.”
Rosiak’s work was regularly spotlighted by Musk as he drove DOGE, and in some cases, provided the investigative backbone for its work cutting government spending.
“Investigative reporters never write happy stories, and at times our work can be emotionally draining,” Rosiak said. “It’s easy to feel outnumbered. But nights like tonight remind all of us here that we’re not alone.”
He said he hopes his reporting inspires other journalists to stick to their instincts, even when it feels like nobody’s paying attention.
“We don’t always see the impact of our work right away. Do the right thing for the right reasons, trust yourself, and keep persevering, and the reward will come eventually.”
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