A self-proclaimed “DC influencer” works with the office of personnel management, but dreams to be a social media star. She got her wish

As they always say, you can do anything, just don’t get caught. For U.S. government official McLaurine Pinover, that day came when CNN somehow came across her Instagram page and was so fascinated with the content that they ran a story about it. Ms Pinover had been shooting and posting reels on IG of her at work, showing off the many different MAGA-friendly outfits she wore that she had variously hashtagged “#professionalfashion”. It is not clear if she meant she had done office work in her office in a professional fashion or if she was referring to her clothes. “Minutes after” CNN reached her for comment (she did not say anything), she quickly switched her social media accounts to private, including X and Facebook. What she was suddenly and rapidly concealing only fanned online curiousity.

Ms Pinover works as a communications director for the office of personnel management (OPM), or simply put, the human resources department for the federal government. OPM has been linked to the department of government efficiency (DOGE), but the relationship between the two, as we gathered, is one of oversight and influence, not direct hierarchical control. Interestingly, American media described OPM as DOGE’s “long arm”. Ms Pinover’s has so far mostly communicated her defence of the OPM’s actions in relation to the drastic cut of the federal workforce (which reportedly included her own department, some 20 of them), as well as efficiency measures—all of them in neat alignment with the controversial objectives of DOGE. So far, neither the head of OPM or the de facto leader of DOGE has commented on Ms Pinover’s social media zeal.

After CNN reached her for comment (she did not say anything), she quickly switched her social media accounts to private, including X and Facebook. What she was suddenly and rapidly concealing only fanned online curiousity

Under normal circumstances and given the content of her IG page, Ms Pinover’s reels—at least half a dozen of her modelling the pieces from her wardrobe—would gather no attention. In fact, at the time of CNN’s reporting, she had only 800 followers. All her posts easily qualified as inane, with no particular fashion story to tell although she frequently included in the comment “#dcinfluencer” and “#dcstyle”, both misnomer-hashtags. She also provided links for her followers to the items she wore, such as one remarkably plain US$475 midi-length skirt. Her style is not particularly imaginative, bordering on the inane, totally skipping refinement. She cops what every newbie influencer thinks is fashionably consumable. It is noticeable that she has a particular love of draping a sweater over her shoulders (even a sweater over a sweater!), the motif of the moneyed, the LA style a la a certain duchess-turned-domestic-diva.

Originally from Auburn, the largest city in eastern Alabama, the newbie OPM staffer was born McLaurine Elizabeth Klingler. Not much is known about the fashion-mad 33-year-old. In an interview on a corporate post about their staff, her former employer The Herald Group (a business management consultancy)—where she served as a senior director—revealed that she graduated from Auburn University, with a Bachelor’s in political science (and technical communication, in other profiles). She said that she has “worked in government communications since 2015”, and that she is married to Robert Pinover and has a son. The husband and wife have enjoyed marital bliss for six years. According to Politico, Mr Pinover is a program manager for the Association of Financial Professionals.

Ms Pinover posing in her OOTD. Screen shot: getdressedwithmc/Instagram

Two days after the CNN story ran, McLaurine Pinover told the Columbus, Georgia-based TV station WRBL: “While I was battling breast cancer as a new mom, I felt so unlike myself. Shortly after, I turned to social media as a personal outlet. I never made any income and with only about 800 followers, I’m surprised this is newsworthy. My focus remains on serving the American people at OPM.” It is unclear why she needed to pull out the sympathy card (did her illness bring out the hypocrisy, too?) but it is amazing that she is not aware that her posts themselves, while they, too, could have served the American people, were not newsworthy—the setting for the filming were. According to CNN, citing a watchdog group, “her videos could run afoul of rules restricting the use of government property for personal benefit because, while in the workplace, she was using a website that pays content creators commissions from the clothing brands they promote”.

Many Netizens in America are miffed that Ms Pinover is unaware how tone deaf her posts were. And how oblivious she was to the bad optics they offered. On 6 February, 17 days after the start of the new administration, when the OPM issued a memo to discuss how “poor-performing employees” could be dismissed “swiftly”, she shared a reel on IG that saw her blowing a kiss to her recording device. The comment read, “work look” and “#dcinfluencer”. It didn’t occur to her that many more of her fellow Americans won’t have that look to turn to. A week later, when 20 of her co-workers—on her own comms team—were laid off, she posted a video of her in another shareable look, accompanied by the comment: “a moment for mixed patterns”.

Although she claimed not to have “made any income” (it has not been verified) from the “affiliated links” that she shared, she was not disagreeable to be paid commission, when due. In addition, her IG posts appeared to contradict what she told The Herald Group prior: “I’ve learned hard work is incredibly rewarding…” There is, as it appears, no evidence of that diligence. Shortly after her appointment at OPM, her ex-employer posted on Facebook a congratulatory message accompanied by a photo of her beaming: “We cheer for our staff’s success while they are at The Herald Group and after they leave and continue to do great things.” Will they still be shouting out encouragements?

Illustration: Just So