Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak is scheduled to testify before a U.S. Senate committee this week about alleged waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal 8(a) contracting program, a long-running initiative that reserves certain government contracts for firms owned by members of disadvantaged groups.
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee is set to hold a hearing titled "Running Government Like a Small Business: Cut Waste, Crush Fraud," at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10, according to the Daily Wire. At the hearing, investigative journalist Luke Rosiak is expected to focus his testimony on the federal 8(a) program, which sets aside government contracts for firms run by members of specified disadvantaged classes, largely racial and ethnic minorities, and affects contracts at nearly all federal agencies.
The Daily Wire reports that Rosiak, who won the 2025 Dao Prize in November for his reporting on what he describes as extraordinary government waste, has documented numerous alleged abuses involving the 8(a) program. The Department of Justice has found that the program was exploited in connection with a bribery scheme totaling roughly $550 million over several decades, in part through what investigators describe as "pass-through" fraud.
In that type of scheme, minority‑owned businesses obtain federal contracts through a no‑bid process, retain a portion of the contract funds, and then subcontract other companies to perform the actual work, according to the Daily Wire’s account of the investigation.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler are examining the alleged misuse of the program, which independent journalist James O’Keefe has characterized on social media as a potential $100 billion scandal, the Daily Wire reports.
Committee Chair Senator Joni Ernst (R‑Iowa), who leads the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, has introduced the Stop 8(a) Contracting Fraud Act. According to Ernst’s office, the bill is intended to halt new no‑bid federal contracts under the 8(a) program until a comprehensive audit is completed. The Daily Wire article notes that the program was significantly expanded under President Joe Biden as part of broader diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Rosiak will be joined by two additional witnesses who will address other areas of alleged government waste: John Hart, CEO of Open the Books, who plans to discuss the use of COVID‑19 relief funds and USAID grants, and Courtney LaFountain, the acting director of the Government Accountability Office, according to the Daily Wire.
"If a small business treated their finances like the government treats tax dollars, they would go out of business," Ernst said in a statement released ahead of the hearing. "This has always been an issue in Washington, but under Joe Biden it became an all‑you‑can‑eat buffet of waste, fraud, and abuse with criminals and con artists cashing in while hardworking Americans were left out in the cold."
Ernst added that she looks forward to hearing from the witnesses on how Congress might work to reduce bureaucracy, improve government efficiency, and better serve small businesses.
