The Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil Recognized as Finalist for Prestigious Dao Prize

Tyler O’Neil, a senior editor at The Daily Signal, has been selected as a finalist for a 2025 Dao Prize in the category of best reporting on the Department of Government Efficiency.

Winners of the Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism will be announced at a Wednesday night gala held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

The prizes, which are administered by the National Journalism Center in partnership with the Dao Feng & Angela Foundation, recognize outstanding investigative journalism across multiple categories.

This year’s awards put a particular emphasis on government accountability. O’Neil’s reporting on the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, exposed the Left’s stranglehold on bureaucracy.

O’Neil’s Daily Signal series “Your Money, Their Agenda: The Left’s Taxpayer-Funded War on Trump,” is among the finalists competing for a $30,000 prize.

“Tyler’s investigative work exemplifies the kind of fearless, facts-driven journalism The Daily Signal is committed to producing,” Editor-in-Chief Katrina Trinko said. “His series meticulously documented how taxpayer dollars have funded initiatives designed to undermine [President Donald] Trump’s policy agenda, demonstrating that government accountability journalism remains essential in holding power to account.”

Dao Prize finalists were selected from submissions judged on five criteria: investigative depth, public interest, fairness and accuracy, style, and impact.

O’Neil’s series followed the publication of his latest book, “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government,” which led to multiple congressional testimonies this year and numerous media appearances.

“I am honored to be nominated for the Dao Prize for reporting about the Department of Government Efficiency,” O’Neil said. “I researched the impact of left-wing activist groups on the Biden administration before the 2024 election for my book, and that research helped me cover the Trump administration’s efforts to highlight just how corrupt the bureaucracy had been under [President] Joe Biden.”

He added, “I appreciate how the Young America’s Foundation and the National Journalism Center are promoting conservative reporting, which often gets overlooked in mainstream American culture, through the Dao Prize. Whatever the judges decide, I am humbled to be considered for this important honor.”