Who is McLaurine Pinover? Trump staffer who defended DOGE cuts outed for filming fashion influencer videos at work 

McLaurine Pinover, a communications director at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is going viral for posting several Instagram videos on her personal account during work hours. This comes in the midst of Donald Trump and Elon Musk overseeing mass federal firings through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As per The Guardian on March 12, the federal staffer/fashion influencer also posted a video on February 13, the day approximately 20 employees were fired from Pinover’s own team.

According to CNN's March 12 report, McLaurine Pinover shared several videos on her now-deleted Instagram account (@getdressedwithmc), where she had amassed over 800 followers. In at least a dozen videos filmed in her office, she modeled her outfit choices for the day. Followers could also purchase the outfits through a website, from which Pinover could earn a small commission.

Her social media posts included hashtags like “dcstyle” and “dcinfluencer” among others. The political appointee's most recent post was uploaded on Tuesday, March 11, where she could be seen typing on her office computer. It is worth noting that she did not reveal that she was a federal employee on her account.

Speaking to CNN about McLaurine Pinover’s Instagram activity, an anonymous former OPM communications staffer said:

“I saw it and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office.’ She’s [Pinover] 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.”

Prior to joining the OPM, McLaurine Pinover worked as a senior director at a public affairs firm and was also a deputy communications director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Pinover also worked as an assistant in the Executive Office of the President during Donald Trump’s first term in office.

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McLaurine Pinover stood behind Donald Trump’s DOGE cuts

McLaurine Pinover started at the federal government’s human resources agency in January. As per CNN, she has been a strong supporter of the Trump administration’s decision to lay off several probationary employees.

Speaking about the OPM's email last month asking federal employees to list five bullet points of things they had done in the past week, Pinover reportedly called it “a commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce.”

CNN confirmed that Pinover filmed many of her Instagram videos on the fifth floor of the OPM’s Washington, DC headquarters. The office is reportedly across a secure annex which is commonly used by DOGE workers.

As per federal regulations, government employees are not allowed to use public property “for other than authorized purposes,” with exceptions for “de minimis personal use,” aka very trivial work such as sending a personal email.

Another anonymous former staffer also commented on Pinover’s controversial February 13 Instagram video, saying:

“While her team is getting axed, she’s twirling around in her office.”

As per CNN, McLaurine also posted a video on February 28, the same day the OPM sent out an email demanding employees to summarize their work. This comes after Elon Musk, who is leading DOGE, stated on X in January:

"Pretending to work while taking money from taxpayers is no longer acceptable."

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For those uninitiated, DOGE, headed by Elon Musk, is the Trump administration’s initiative that aims to maximize “government efficiency and productivity.” Their actions include mass layoffs of federal workers, accessing data from different government agencies, and looking into whistleblower protections, among other measures.