DHS picks new CIO with deep DOGE roots
The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to welcome Kyle Schutt to its ranks as chief information officer.
The appointment was first reported Thursday by Federal News Network and confirmed by FedScoop through two sources familiar with the matter. The news comes after FedScoop reported Wednesday that DHS CIO Antoine McCord was planning his exit.
Similar to his predecessor, Schutt has little digital footprint of his own making. He even deleted his LinkedIn profile more than a year ago.
Information about the soon-to-be top IT leader at DHS, instead, comes from a string of reporting over the past year-and-a-half.
Before moving to the federal government, Schutt was CTO at an online fundraising platform and led the development of another, which helped raise $1.8 billion for the Republican Party in the 2024 election cycle, according to ProPublica.
On behalf of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, Schutt worked at a number of agencies, including the General Services Administration, per NPR reporting. Wired has tied his work at DOGE to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services. At DHS, he was responsible, in part, for the closing of the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, ProPublica reported.
Schutt also has been linked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The CIO reshuffling comes amid other changes at DHS. The agency promoted its senior counselor to the secretary to under secretary for management. FEMA has a new CIO who came from the National Nuclear Security Administration. There have also been a wave of technology leadership departures across the federal government.
