McLaurine Pinover, Elon Musk’s DOGE PR Defender, Shows Off Questionable Ethics and Questionable Style

Since McLaurine Pinover became the Office of Personnel Management’s director of communications, she’s been one of the highest profile defenders of Elon Musk and DOGE’s most unpopular moves to the media. On Tuesday, CNN reported that Pinover was also working on a side hustle in her government office in the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building, where she filmed influencer-style videos showing off her daily outfits.

The videos show her posing in what she captioned “#professionalfashion,” applying makeup, and practicing her smize for her 800 followers. CNN noted that Pinover’s Instagram account was deleted minutes after they reached out to her for comment. According to CNN, Pinover’s Instagram also linked out to her account on ShopMy, a website with the slogan “Monetize Your Influence,” which helps creators earn commission on some sales through their affiliate links. It’s unclear whether she made any money on the site. (Vanity Fair has contacted Pinover for comment.)

Times are tough for government employees, but Pinover’s attempts at influencing suggest she should (try to) keep her day job. Though her outfits reportedly incorporate pieces from youthful mid-market brands like Tibi (an aubergine skirt that retails for $475) and Cinq à Sept (a black dress that runs at about $300), the proportions are off and the drab office surroundings aren’t doing any favors. She has none of the sultry verve we’ve come to expect from the internet’s most notable MAGA fashion plates, but still falls short of the mainstream’s current dedication to putting personal style above all else.

Two of her frumpier choices—a blousy black-and-white polka dot frock and a cardigan over a long plaid skirt—are giving “trad wife visits husband’s office.” The look is on-brand, as Project 2025 makes it pretty clear the GOP doesn’t want too many women in the workplace. In a picture dated December 2024, posted by The Herald Group on X, Pinover is pictured in a burgundy satin skirt and an ice blue shirt. Not a tragic color combination, but the shirt is both partially unbuttoned and millennially tucked, with accessories cinched around the French cuffs on both arms. Dubious at best.

According to McLaurine Pinover’s since-deleted LinkedIn profile, she graduated from Auburn University and worked in the White House during Donald Trump’s first term. Since joining the new Trump administration in January, Pinover has put up a fulsome defense of firing veterans. “OPM recognizes the dedication and service of all federal employees, including our veteran work force, and remains committed to supporting them during this transition,” she told The New York Times after nearly 6,000 veterans lost their jobs.

She also touted the benefits of the “Fork in the Road” memo pressuring government workers to resign—calling the purportedly “carefully designed, thoroughly vetted” program a “legal and a valuable option for federal employees”—and talked up the merits of asking every government employee to justify their jobs in a five-point email.

In another era, influencing from a federal building might cause an outcry, but as the Trump era proceeds, the DOGE boosters might be taking their cues from on high. On Tuesday, Trump turned the White House into an especially odd Tesla dealership in an attempt to support Musk’s cratering net worth. After fast-food chain Steak ’n Shake jumped on the MAHA bandwagon by swapping vegetable oil for beef tallow to make their fries, HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy stopped by a location with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, and the pair shared a meal onscreen.

Donald Sherman, chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told CNN that the Pinover videos are insulting to the scores of government workers who have lost their jobs amid DOGE’s chaotic actions. “I would be very curious if she included her efforts to promote her brand as part of the five things that she accomplished that week,” said Sherman. “This Trump administration appointee is violating the public trust at the same time as she seems to be instrumental in the administration’s attack on civil servants.”

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