On February 11th, as thousands of civil servants wondered whether they’d have a job — or whether their federal agencies would exist at all, as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk took a wrecking ball to the federal government — McLaurine Pinover had other things on her mind. Pinover, a political appointee of the Trump administration and the communications director at the Office of Personnel Management, was uploading her outfit to Instagram.
“Me and my emotional support shoulder sweater,” Pinover captioned a video (along with the hashtags #cozy, #petiteoutfitinspo, #dcstyle, and #classicwithatwist) as she posed for the camera. In another clip, uploaded January 29th, 2025, Pinover models a brown skirt and top, hands on hips. “New office, new office look,” she writes. “I’ve been sick + started a new job but excited to share my looks on this new adventure!” Here’s a quick reminder of what was happening that day in Washington, DC.
Pinover’s Instagram is long gone, deleted minutes after CNN reporters contacted her for a story revealing her side hustle, where she was also trying to monetize her content. But I was able to find a few of the cached pages on Google:
Image: Instagram
The OPM has played a central role in the Trump administration’s search-and-destroy tactic — it’s the OPM that is acting as Musk’s right hand in gutting the federal workforce; the “Fork in the Road” email encouraging civil servants to resign came from the OPM; and it was the OPM that demanded federal employees summarize what they do each week to prove they’re actually working. Along with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Musk’s pseudo agency, OPM has been hellbent on identifying (and punishing) “waste, fraud, and abuse,” however they choose to define that.
Luckily, I have an idea of where the OPM can start. Many of Pinover’s videos are filmed in a nondescript but tidy office. CNN, which broke the story, includes an incredible quote from a former OPM communications official: “I saw it, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office.’” CNN also reports that Pinover’s Sears catalog-esque outfits were shared during working hours — seems wasteful to me! Pinover’s fashion account, @getdressedwithmc, only had around 800 followers, with some videos getting just a few dozen likes, which is not very efficient or effective. If you are going to use your government office on taxpayers’ dimes to film milquetoast outfit videos, at least have the decency to be good at it.
It is one thing to share your very normal and average outfits on a private account — still kind of cringe, but probably not worthy of news coverage. But according to CNN, Pinover was also trying to monetize her content via affiliate links. For actual influencers, affiliate links can be incredibly lucrative: they make a commission every time someone purchases a product using their link. But with 800 followers, it’s unclear if Pinover was making any money. She was trying, though, with CNN reporting she was hawking products like a $475 skirt. Government watchdog groups told CNN that Pinover’s actions appear to run afoul of rules against using government resources for a private business and other unauthorized purposes.
“Content creation” as a job has become more financially and socially viable in the last decade, and many people with day jobs dabble in making Reels or TikToks or YouTube vlogs. In 2022, I wrote about the trend of big tech employees going viral on the clock, recording footage in the offices of companies like Apple, Google, and Discord and discussing their careers and lifestyle. In this world, your day job is part of your content niche, blurring the lines between the role that pays your bills and your social media platform that you clearly want to bolster. While Pinover didn’t identify herself as a member of the Trump administration, her willingness to unabashedly promote her ShopMy affiliate links signals two things to me: these are not serious people; and also, this is what’s happening in workplaces across America, conflicts of interest and professional reputation be damned.
Then again, we have plenty of evidence that many connected to this administration think of themselves as influencers first and public servants second. The White House is but a backdrop for a pop-up Tesla dealership as Musk’s business flounders. Over on X, disgraced former member of the House of Representatives Matt Gaetz is busy being a shill for a random precious metals investment firm (seemingly without proper disclosures, I might add). The OPM did not immediately respond to my questions about whether Pinover’s actions constitute waste, fraud, or abuse — but I am not holding my breath, given what her bosses are up to. What’s that saying about when in Rome?
