U.S. Vice President Jay Dee Vance admitted on Friday that billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made "mistakes" by carrying out massive layoffs of federal employees, and stressed that he believes "there are a lot of good people working in the government," in an interview with NBC News, UNN writes.
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"Elon himself has said that sometimes you do something, make a mistake, and then correct it. I accept mistakes," Vance said
"I also think you have to correct those mistakes quickly. But I am also well aware of the fact that there are a lot of good people working in the government - a lot of people who are doing a very good job. And we want to try to keep as much of what works in the government as possible, while eliminating what doesn't work," he said.
Vance's softer tone was in contrast to the "chainsaw approach" that Musk, the world's richest man, used while leading U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to cut federal spending and reorient the federal bureaucracy, the publication notes.
The dismissal of thousands of civil servants was a central element of Musk's work during the first seven weeks of Trump's second term in the White House, with the cuts leading to lawsuits and opposition from judges. Musk has generally described federal employees as "crooks" who cannot be trusted to do their jobs.