A Trump official passed herself off as a fashion influencer

A Trump official passed herself off as a fashion influencer

On February 11, when thousands of civil servants were wondering if they would have jobs — or if their federal agencies would even exist, as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk ruined the federal government — McLaurin Pinover had something else on her mind. Pinover, a Trump administration political appointee and communications director in the Office of Personnel Management, was uploading her outfit to Instagram.

"Me and my emotional support shoulder sweater," Pinover captioned a video (with the hashtags #cozy, #petiteoutfitinspo, #dcstyle, and #classicwithatwist) of her posing for the camera. In another clip uploaded on January 29, 2025, Pinover is wearing a brown skirt and top, with her hands on her waist. "New office, new office look," she writes. "I was sick + started a new job but excited to share my look at this new adventure!" Here's a quick reminder of what was happening that day in Washington, D.C. Pinover's Instagram has long since disappeared, deleted minutes after CNN reporters contacted her, including reports that she was trying to make money off her content. But I was able to find a few cached pages on Google: OPM has played a central role in the Trump administration's search-and-destroy strategy — it's OPM that's acting as Musk's right hand in destroying the federal workforce; the "fork in the road" email encouraging civil servants to resign came from OPM; and it's OPM that demanded federal employees submit a summary of their work every week to prove they were actually working. As with Musk’s pseudo-agency, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, OPM is adamant about identifying (and punishing) “waste, fraud, and abuse,” no matter how they define it. Still, we have plenty of evidence that many people connected to this administration consider themselves influencers first and public servants second. The White House is merely the backdrop for Tesla dealerships, as Musk’s business falters. Over at X, disgraced former member of the House of Representatives Matt Gaetz is busy being a promoter for a random precious metals investment firm (seemingly without proper disclosures, I might add). OPM did not immediately respond to my questions about whether Pinover’s actions amount to waste, fraud, or abuse — but I’m not getting my hopes up, given what his bosses are doing. What does that say about being in Rome?