Jordan Campbell, a former Texas business litigator, has been appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch of the Civil Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2025. In this role, Campbell oversees the administration's nationwide probes into healthcare providers offering gender-affirming care to children, specifically those with gender dysphoria.
Before joining the DOJ, Campbell co-founded Campbell Miller Payne, PLLC, a law firm established in 2023. This firm was unique in its dedication to exclusively representing detransitioners and individuals who felt harmed by what they termed "radical gender ideology." During his time at the firm, Campbell represented clients across the country, including detransitioners, female prisoners, and whistleblowers. He previously practiced commercial and antitrust litigation at other Dallas-based firms, Brown Fox, PLLC (2021-2023) and Norton Rose Fulbright, PLLC (2013-2021).
Campbell's current role and past legal background have drawn significant attention and controversy. A Rhode Island federal judge, Mary S. McElroy, criticized his conduct and that of another DOJ attorney, Brantley Mayers, during a hearing where a pediatric hospital sought to quash a subpoena for transgender youth medical records. The judge specifically highlighted Campbell's prior involvement in suing Rhode Island Hospital while at his Dallas firm and his silence during the hearing while a junior attorney was questioned. McElroy ultimately quashed the subpoena and referred the DOJ attorneys for disciplinary proceedings, citing misrepresentation of facts, withholding information, and forum shopping. The DOJ, however, has stated that its attorneys acted properly and has appealed the order.
Campbell's appointment and the DOJ's broader efforts to obtain medical records for trans youth have been characterized by some as part of an ongoing campaign by the Trump administration. Judges in other cases have also called these subpoenas a "fishing expedition" and attempts to "intimidate" and "harass" trans people and their providers. Campbell's educational background includes a law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (2013) and an undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University (2008).
