Last week, McLaurine Pinover, communications director at the Office of Personnel Management, made headlines when CNN reported that she created and posted personal-style videos from her office in the White House. Amidst the federal workforce’s anticipation of layoffs and restructuring under the Trump administration, Pinover promoted a $475 purple skirt to her 800 Instagram followers, complete with a direct purchase link.
In response, former OPM staffer, Jack Miller told CNN, that Pinover’s actions were “absurd,” emphasizing that a leader’s priorities should be protecting their team, not posting fashion videos.
The incident, however, is hardly the first time that a government official has integrated personal personal branding with their public role. Following her victory over 10-term incumbent Rep Joe Crowley to serve as the Democrat Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district, Lou Stoppard of the Finacial Times referred to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as an “influencer.”
That label stemmed from a photo Ocasio-Cortez posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) of her, “zip-up plimsolls, with worn-through soles, from & Other Stories, a decidedly millennial brand beloved by young women keen to purchase vintage-look dresses and shower gel in Instagrammable packaging,” Stoppard wrote.
Building on this foundation of relatable imagery, Ocasio-Cortez continued her efforts to connect with her constituents by introducing her pandemic cooking livestreams. She cooked, interacted with viewers, and discussed policy. To which, David Smith of The Guardian commended Ocasio-Cortez for “perfecting the recipe for making politics palatable.”
More recently, in the run-up to the 2024 election, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, joined Ocasio-Cortez during a stream on Twitch to play video games and talk politics. In the stream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel, she and Walz discussed Social Security and disillusioned left-wing voters.
And yet, despite their clear use of influencer tactics, neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Walz faced accusations of being “wannabe influencers.” Instead, their engagement was largely framed as a strategic and modern approach to political communication.
Which raises the question: would we feel differently about Pinover’s content if she had discussed the administration’s justification for laying off thousands of federal employees while modeling her clothes?
According to Pew Research Center, roughly 90% of young adults utilize social media daily. Which is to say for many, creating and sharing content is no longer a niche activity, but a routine part of daily life. Consider another data point: A 2024 survey by YouTube found that 65 percent of younger internet users (defined as people between the ages of 14 and 24) consider themselves to be video content creators, a generational shift in how young people see themselves.
This is not to say that the potential illegality of Pinover’s actions doesn’t warrant scrutiny.
Pinover’s now-deleted Instagram page featured links to a ShopMy account, where affiliate links generated commissions, typically around 15%, for each purchase driven by her content.
According to federal regulations, government employees are forbidden from using public property “for other than authorized purposes,” with exceptions for “de minimis personal use,” such as sending a personal email from a government account. In other words, there’s a chance that Pinover’s posts, “could run afoul of rules restricting the use of government property for personal benefit,” according to CNN.
Still, her case serves as a crucial point of reflection. While potentially problematic, the response to her posts highlights a larger issue: the need for updated guidelines that reflect the realities of the age of the influencer-government official. As online presence and careers merge for professionals like Pinover and Ocasio-Cortez, such cases will only become more common. At the very least, we should strive for consistency in our judgment, applying the same standards to all public figures navigating the complex posting terrain.
