On the day that 20 people in the Office of Personnel Management were told they would lose their jobs as part of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) purge, the agency’s spokesperson, McLaurine Pinover, was on Instagram posting “petite outfit inspo” for the 800 followers of her personal fashion Instagram account.
Pinover, who was appointed in January as communications chief of the government’s human resources department, has been side-hustling as a fashion influencer by sharing photos and videos of her outfits—often taken during office hours from the OPM headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to CNN.
Pinover deleted her fashion account, @getdressedwithmc, shortly after CNN reached out to her for comment. But archived Google results show her Instagram bio indicated she was based in D.C. and stated: “Here to be your realistic fashion inspo!” Google Images also showed that several of her outfit photos were taken inside the OPM office, which has become a home base of sorts for the staffers working with Elon Musk’s DOGE.
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“I saw it, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office,’” a former OPM communications staffer anonymously told CNN. “She’s the spokesperson for the agency that is advocating for the firing based on performance and efficiency of the rest of the government workforce, and she’s using government property as a backdrop for her videos.”
Jack Miller, Pinover’s predecessor from the Biden administration, told CNN that 20 OPM communications staff were notified about their termination on Feb. 13, the day Pinover posted an outfit with the caption, “A moment for mixed patterns.”
“To post that video the very day your entire team is getting laid off is ridiculous,” Miller said.
As OPM spokesperson, Pinover has consistently defended the controversial staff cuts initiated by the Elon Musk-led DOGE.
When the OPM caused a stir last month by demanding federal employees to submit a list of five work accomplishments for that week, Pinover said it was all “part of the Trump administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce.”
Pinover also used her fashion account to post affiliate links, which allow her to gain a commission whenever someone clicks on them to purchase the clothes she wore. It was not clear whether she earned any commission through her links.
Federal regulations prohibit government employees from using public property “for other than authorized purposes,” except for “de minimis personal use,” like sending personal emails.
Donald Sherman, chief counsel for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, told CNN that Pinover’s posts appeared to violate those rules.
“I would be very curious if she included her efforts to promote her brand as part of the five things she accomplished that week,” Sherman said. “It is highly problematic that while dedicated civil servants who want to work for the government are being fired for all manner of dubious reasons, or are being forced out by this administration, that someone at the agency leading that attack on the civil service is using their government job for private gain.”
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert from Washington University, told CNN that Pinover “does not appear to be attempting to trade on the prestige of government office” because her Instagram account did not indicate that she was an employee at OPM.
The Daily Beast has reached out to OPM for comment.
