The Department of Government Efficiency’s ‘nerd squadron’ is being led by a ‘heartless’ CEO known for his ruthless approach to layoffs, according to bombshell allegations.
Tom Krause has been installed as the Treasury Department’s fiscal assistant secretary, replacing a longtime career civil servant.
The Silicon Valley executive is an ally of Elon Musk and has been tasked with managing the nation’s payment system.
He will be working closely with the six baby-faced men handpicked by Musk to help trim the fat on public spending.
His first days have already been marred by controversy and a lawsuit over claims he was given inappropriate access to the payment system and tried to, ‘unlawfully freeze payment instructions given by Congress‘.
Krause is a shrewd businessman who is CEO of Cloud Software Group, a holding company following the merger between software firms Citrix and TIBCO.
Krause was brought in as CEO for Citrix in 2022 where he established his formidable reputation as a hatchet man, laying off thousands of employees to haul the company out of its $15 billion of debt, Prospect reports.
The Department of Government Efficiency’s ‘nerd squadron’ is being led by ‘heartless’ CEO Tom Krause
Krause was selected for his track record of squeezing customers and slashing overheads.
Almost immediately upon starting with Citrix, he announced 1,000 layoffs followed by several thousand more equivalent to 15 percent on the workforce.
He also mandated a return to the office – even though Citrix’s products are designed to facilitate work from home.
Krause only abandoned the unpopular directive when it became apparent he could save on the costs of running an office.
Bonuses, ‘thank you’ days for managers who worked over time and Citrix branded merch were all jettisoned in the name of frugality.
By the start of last year, a further 12 percent of the workforce had been axed by Krause.
‘It was so cold, it was literally like, OK, you’re being laid off, your access to the systems is going to be cut off in an hour,’ former employee David Morgan, a disabled veteran, told Prospect.
‘He runs everything into the ground, look at his time at Broadcom. The dude is a heartless person who should not be in any line of business, but especially not in the government sector.’
He will be working closely with the six baby-faced men including Cole Killian (left) and Ethan Shaotran (right) handpicked by Musk to help trim the fat on public spending
Akash Bobba (left) and Luke Farritor (right) are also part of the ‘nerd squadron’
The youngest of Musk’s elite squad Edward Coristin (left) is just 19 and a student at Northeastern University in Boston. He is working with Berkley graduate Gavin Kliger (right)
Krause’s cut throat approach has landed him in more than one legal battle after he refused to pay an invoice for the remaining Citrix merchandise and a separate bill for financial services from another company. Both instances were settled out of court.
‘The criteria for DOGE is how many you have fired, how much you enjoy firing people, and how little you care about the impact on peoples well being,’ an anonymous user posted at online forum TheLayoff.
‘No wonder TK [Tom Krause] was tapped for this. He’s their dream employee!’
Krause was tapped to take over after then-acting Treasury Secretary David Lebryk was ousted from the position shortly after refusing to hand over access to the Treasury payments system.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon of the Senate Finance Committee, has written a letter to Treasury secretary Scott Bessent demanding clarity on Krause’s intentions.
Krause has claimed he only wanted to halt payments so he could review them, per emails obtained by CNN.
When advised that such action could pose legal risk, he threatened that Lebryk could face his own liabilities if he refused to comply, per the emails.
He and DOGE were dealt a blow after a judge handed down a temporary restraining order severing access to systems which process 88 percent of the federal government’s payments.
Krause is an ally of Elon Musk and has been tasked with managing the nation’s payment system
The Trump administration said it hired Krause as a consultant for DOGE to work as a special employee of the Treasury department.
Krause CEO has more than 20 years experience in leading tech companies and previously served as an executive officer of Broadcom Inc.
He is an economics graduate of Princeton University and began his technology career with Robertson Stephens and Technology Crossover Ventures.
