A multimillion-dollar ad campaign that kicked off this week is targeting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) over the delay in moving to advance a major bill aimed at addressing a recent surge in campus antisemitism.

In a series of hard-hitting digital video ads that began airing on Monday in multiple media markets, Schumer is accused of obstructing the bill, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House in May but has since remained stalled in the upper chamber.

“The U.S. House has already passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act with overwhelming bipartisan support,” the narrator of a 30-second spot intones over footage of protesters chanting anti-Israel slogans. “Sen. Chuck Schumer proclaims he stands tall against antisemitism, while in reality, Schumer alone blocks it from coming to a vote.”

“Faced with blind hatred,” the ad concludes, “Chuck Schumer plays politics.”

The ads are funded by a political advocacy group called the Florence Avenue Initiative, according to a disclaimer listed at the end of the videos. The group could not be reached for comment and additional details did not appear to be publicly available this week.

A source familiar with the matter, who was granted anonymity to discuss the newly launched campaign, characterized the effort as a coalition of “concerned Jewish donors who are tired of Schumer’s inaction.” The source declined to identify individual donors by name, citing confidentiality, but confirmed that the campaign involves some half-dozen contributors.

The ads, which will also air on TV in a few weeks, are expected to cost around $2 million and will run through the fall, the source told Jewish Insider on Tuesday.

In addition to Schumer’s home state of New York, the source noted that the ads are strategically placed to run in several battleground states that will likely decide control of the Senate, including Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“This ad is run by an anonymous, shadowy group that is clearly doing it for political purposes,” Angelo Roefaro, a spokesperson for Schumer, said in a statement to JI on Wednesday. “The ad does nothing to stop antisemitism. The ad does nothing to pass any bill. Senator Schumer is doing both.”

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country, has in recent months faced growing pressure to bring the antisemitism bill up for a vote on the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass with bipartisan support. 

But after an initial effort to unanimously fast-track the bill failed in the Senate in May, Schumer has yet to announce detailed plans for the legislation, even as he pledged at the time “to look for the best way to move forward.”

The bill would enshrine into federal law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and direct the Department of Education to consider the definition in weighing allegations of anti-Jewish discrimination on college campuses.

In the Senate, it has faced pockets of opposition from members of both parties who have raised concerns that the definition — which identifies some criticism of Israel as antisemitic — would limit free speech.

But Schumer, who has endorsed prior versions of the legislation, has not indicated that he shares those reservations — fueling frustration among Jewish leaders and some Democratic colleagues who support the bill and are eager to see it pass.

The White House has not publicly indicated that it is opposed to the bill.

“Sadly, Senator Schumer has been blocking passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act in the Senate — which passed the House with broad bipartisan support (320-91). The time to act is now,” tweeted Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), a leading advocate of the legislation.

In a brief interview with JI in late June, Schumer, who has otherwise been outspoken against rising antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, stressed that he was “looking at every single option to try and get strong, bipartisan legislation passed.”

He did not disclose a timeline, but added that “the goals and aspirations” of the bill, which is backed by a large number of Jewish groups, are “so important” in what he described as a lifelong “crusade” against antisemitism.

Still, critics have found such rhetoric unconvincing, with some alleging that Schumer has slow-walked a floor vote because he fears the legislation will sow divisions within his caucus, which includes some left-leaning members who have voiced resistance to the bill.

In June, several Jewish leaders who had privately met with Schumer the previous month to discuss the status of the legislation sent a follow-up letter to his office urging him to pass the bill before the start of the fall semester, citing “a dramatic increase of antisemitic activity” on college campuses amid the war between Israel and Hamas. 

But as the summer congressional recess begins this week and runs until early September, that timeline no longer seems possible.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate and a vulnerable Democrat up for reelection in November, recently submitted the legislation as a potential amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act for possible consideration on the floor.

It remains unclear, however, when the NDAA will come to consideration, or whether the amendment will actually receive a vote as part of that process.

Now, with private appeals from the organized Jewish community having fallen flat, some donors who have grown increasingly frustrated with Schumer’s handling of the bill are spending heavily to exert mounting pressure on the majority leader as the legislation continues to stall in the Senate.

“People are just sick and tired of it,” the source familiar with the new ads targeting Schumer told JI. “They’ve decided to put together this ad campaign to call him out.”

Additional reporting contributed by JI’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod.

This story was updated on Wednesday afternoon to include a statement from Schumer’s office.