Role: Special Government Employee at Treasury starting late January 2025 as Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization and DOGE team lead; performed the duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary from February 7, 2025 through June 6, 2025; concurrently CEO of Cloud Software Group (the holding company that owns Citrix and Tibco).

Status: Departed Treasury effective June 6, 2025, concluding his DOGE involvement; remains CEO of Cloud Software Group (CRN, June 3, 2025; Wikipedia; Revolving Door Project, 2025).

Basis for Inclusion

Subject classification: Public Official (Special Government Employee installed to perform the duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary — a position filled by nonpartisan career civil servants for decades, per the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities).

Anchor met: Public Official acting in formal federal capacity over payment systems disbursing more than $5 trillion annually and over Treasury securities auctions that set the U.S. benchmark interest rate.

Background

Krause is CEO of Cloud Software Group, the private-equity-owned parent of Citrix and Tibco. He previously served as President of Broadcom Software — a company sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 for anticompetitive practices — and played a key role in the Broadcom/VMware merger that, per the Revolving Door Project, drove sharp post-acquisition increases in software prices.

Bloomberg reported (“Musk’s DOGE Pick Led Cybersecurity Cuts at Citrix. Hacks Followed,” February 10, 2025) that Krause oversaw cybersecurity headcount reductions at Citrix that preceded publicly disclosed Citrix Bleed hacks affecting major customers — a fact pattern directly relevant to his subsequent federal payment-system access.

Multiple outlets reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent interviewed Krause in December 2024 and that the two discussed Krause’s plans to access Treasury systems on behalf of DOGE during that interview (Bloomberg, The Record, February 2025).

Krause’s installation was preceded by the January 31, 2025 retirement of David A. Lebryk, Treasury’s acting Deputy Secretary and longtime career head of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Per The Washington Post and The New York Times, Lebryk retired under pressure after refusing to grant DOGE access to Treasury payment systems.

DOGE Role

• Late January 2025 — Treasury arrival: Started as Treasury senior advisor for technology and modernization and DOGE team lead at the agency, retaining his role as Cloud Software Group CEO.
• Read-only access disclosed: Treasury’s letter to Congress and reporting confirmed Krause was granted “read-only” access to the Treasury payment system that disburses more than $5 trillion annually (Treasury Department letter, February 4, 2025; The Register, “Citrix supremo has ‘read-only’ access to Treasury payments,” February 5, 2025).
• February 7, 2025 — Fiscal Assistant Secretary duties: Treasury designated Krause to perform the duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary — the highest-ranking non-political position in that office, succeeding acting head Matthew Garber. The role carries operational authority over payment systems disbursing Social Security, Medicare, federal contractor, federal payroll, and tax-refund payments, and over U.S. Treasury securities auctions. Treasury held 440 auctions and issued $28.5 trillion in securities in 2024 (Sen. Reed letter, February 7, 2025).
• Senate response (February 7, 2025): Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) publicly demanded Krause’s immediate removal, calling him an “unqualified partisan” and urging Secretary Bessent to appoint a nonpartisan career expert no later than February 11.
• February 6, 2025 — DOJ stipulated limits: Under court pressure in AFGE v. Bessent and related cases, DOJ stipulated that only Krause and Marko Elez would retain access, both designated temporary Treasury employees with read-only privileges (ABC News; The Record).
• February 22, 2025 — Preliminary injunction: A federal court granted a preliminary injunction in a multi-state AG suit further constraining DOGE access to Treasury payment systems and information (States Newsroom/Tennessee Lookout, February 22, 2025; Tax Notes summary).
• Krause’s “over the shoulder” claim: In a court filing, Krause asserted his access to the payment system was limited to “over the shoulder” reading of the screens of career staff (court filings, February 2025).
• May 2025 — Access expanded by court: A federal judge ruled that the entire DOGE team at Treasury — including Krause — could access the agency’s payment and data systems (CRN, June 3, 2025).
• SGE 130-day cap: As a Special Government Employee, Krause was legally limited to 130 working days of government service in a 365-day period, a constraint that framed the June timeline.
• Departure (June 6, 2025): Krause announced his departure at a Cloud Software Group all-hands meeting on June 3, effective June 6, 2025; the departure concluded his DOGE involvement. Elon Musk also exited DOGE around the same period.

Documented Actions

• Coordinated with and supervised DOGE engineers — including Marko Elez, a 25-year-old former SpaceX/X engineer — obtaining and using Treasury payment-system access (Treasury letter; court filings; The Record, February 2025).
• Per CREW investigation, Krause’s company Cloud Software Group donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration during the period Krause was being installed at Treasury.
• In late March 2025, Krause publicly reported extensive financial holdings in companies doing business with the Treasury Department and other executive agencies, including vendors to Treasury’s Fiscal Service, participants in Treasury bond auctions, federal contractors, and large technology firms (Wikipedia, citing late-March 2025 disclosures).
• Krause and at least two other Treasury DOGE team members reported owning shares in Intuit (TurboTax’s parent), whose lobbying against IRS Direct File coincided with DOGE’s targeting of Direct File for elimination.
• Per ABC News, Krause sent a January 2025 email to Cloud Software Group employees requesting voluntary weekly accomplishment updates emailed directly to him — a practice he attributed to Elon Musk and Jensen Huang and that anticipated DOGE’s “What did you do last week?” demands on federal employees.

Real-World Impacts

Federal Employees

• Indirect impact via Treasury system changes affecting federal payroll processing.

American Citizens (Public Services)

• Access to systems processing payments for tens of millions of beneficiaries (SSA, Medicare, federal employees, contractors) raised concerns about payment integrity (multiple court filings, 2025).
• Krause’s reported Intuit holdings overlapped with DOGE’s documented targeting of IRS Direct File — a free public tax-filing alternative to TurboTax.

Vulnerable Populations

• SSA, Medicare, SNAP, and federal-pension recipients all dependent on Treasury payment systems Krause oversaw.

Privacy and Data Security

• Access granted included PII for nearly every American who has received a federal payment.
• Bloomberg’s reporting on Krause’s history of cutting cybersecurity headcount at Citrix — which was followed by publicly disclosed major Citrix Bleed hacks — was specifically cited by senators raising payment-system security concerns.
• Court filings documented inadequate security vetting for DOGE-era system access.

Other Documented Harms

• Federal court orders required Treasury to restrict and audit DOGE-era access logs (multiple court filings and orders, February – May 2025).
• The forced retirement of acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk — the longtime career steward of the federal payment system — was attributed by The Washington Post and The New York Times to his refusal to grant DOGE access, removing institutional friction before Krause’s arrival.

Conflicts of Interest

• Concurrent CEO role: Krause continued to serve as CEO of Cloud Software Group throughout his Treasury tenure, an arrangement that drew direct ethics objections from Sen. Reed and former Treasury officials.
• Cloud Software Group $1M inauguration donation: CREW documented that Krause’s company donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration during the period he was being installed at Treasury (CREW, “DOGE associate’s company gave $1 million to Trump’s inauguration,” 2025).
• Cloud Software Group / Citrix federal contracts: Krause’s company holds millions in federal contracts, including with Treasury — the agency where he was simultaneously performing the duties of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary.
• Intuit holdings: Krause and at least two other Treasury DOGE team members reported owning shares in Intuit, which lobbied against Treasury’s IRS Direct File program — a DOGE elimination target during his tenure.
• Broader Treasury-vendor portfolio: Krause’s late-March 2025 financial disclosures listed holdings in companies providing services to Treasury’s Fiscal Service, in firms participating in the Treasury bond auctions his office oversaw, and in federal contractors and large technology firms.
• Citrix cybersecurity-cut history: Bloomberg-documented pattern of cybersecurity headcount reductions preceding the publicly disclosed Citrix Bleed hacks at Krause’s prior company was directly relevant to vetting for payment-system access.
• Broadcom Software/VMware history: As President of Broadcom Software, Krause was central to the Broadcom/VMware merger that, per the Revolving Door Project, drove sharp post-acquisition price increases — relevant context for an executive granted oversight of federal procurement-related payments.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Tom Krause (business executive)”
• U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Department Letter to Members of Congress Regarding Payment Systems,” February 4, 2025
• The Register, “Citrix supremo has ‘read-only’ access to Treasury payments,” February 5, 2025
• Bloomberg, “Musk’s DOGE Pick Led Cybersecurity Cuts at Citrix. Hacks Followed,” February 10, 2025
• Bloomberg, reporting on Secretary Bessent’s December 2024 interview of Krause and Krause’s stated plans for Treasury access, February 2025
• Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Letter to Secretary Scott Bessent calling for Krause’s removal, February 7, 2025
• Politico, “Treasury elevates Musk ally to lead government payment system,” February 7, 2025
• ABC News, “Ex-employees say Tom Krause… was a ‘hatchet man,'” 2025; ABC News, “DOJ agrees to proposed order to limit DOGE’s access to Treasury data,” February 6, 2025
• The Record (Recorded Future News), “Treasury agrees to block additional DOGE staff from accessing sensitive payment systems,” February 2025
• States Newsroom / Tennessee Lookout, “Democratic AGs win preliminary injunction against DOGE access to Treasury payment systems,” February 22, 2025
• Tax Notes, “Preliminary Injunction Limits DOGE Access to Treasury Information,” 2025
• The Washington Post, “Senior U.S. official exits after rift with Musk allies over payment system,” January 31, 2025
• The New York Times, “Treasury Official Quits After Resisting Musk’s Requests on Payments,” January 31, 2025
• CBS News, “DOGE task force gains access to U.S. Treasury Department data, payment systems,” February 3, 2025
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “‘DOGE’ Access to Treasury Payment Systems Raises Serious Risks,” 2025
• The American Prospect, “The Private Equity Hatchet Man Leading the Lost Boys of DOGE,” February 6, 2025
• CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), “DOGE associate’s company gave $1 million to Trump’s inauguration,” 2025
• Revolving Door Project, “DOGE Agent: Tom Krause,” February 20, 2025
• CRN, “Citrix Parent CEO Krause Leaves DOGE, US Treasury Posts,” June 3, 2025
• Alliance for Retired Americans v. Bessent, court filings, 2025
• AFGE v. Bessent and related federal lawsuits, court filings, 2025
• WIRED Treasury access coverage, 2025
• Senate Finance Committee correspondence, 2025