Friday’s back-and-forth between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over the Antisemitism Awareness Act is sparking frustration from the lead sponsors of the legislation.

Schumer on Friday said that he was seeking approval from congressional leaders to add the campus antisemitism bill to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. But Johnson said he planned to reject that effort and called for a stand-alone vote on the bill in the Senate.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), the lead House sponsor of the bill, who has been publicly pressuring Schumer for a vote for months, initially seemed to react positively to the news that he was pursuing its inclusion in the NDAA.

“It shouldn’t have taken this much pressure to get Senator Chuck Schumer to move the Antisemitism Awareness Act after it passed the House overwhelmingly in May,” Lawler said in response to the news. “Still, we must get this legislation across the finish line.”

But he then echoed Johnson’s call for a stand-alone vote after Johnson said he wouldn’t support the NDAA effort.

“I passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act through the House in May — 320-91,” Lawler said in response to Johnson’s announcement. “[Schumer] has sat on this bill for months, refusing to give it a vote. He should bring the bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote immediately — without any further delay. Pass the damn bill!”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), the bill’s lead Democratic sponsor, expressed frustration on Friday.

“Enough excuses, let’s get this up for a vote now and stop delaying the fight against hate and antisemitism,” Gottheimer told Jewish Insider.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the lead GOP sponsor of the bill in the Senate, is also urging a stand-alone vote.

“The quickest way to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act would be for Leader Schumer to bring the bill to the floor for a stand-alone vote, which Senator Scott has called on him to do,” a Scott spokesperson said. “Leader Schumer has had the ability to move this bill for months but has refused to do so every step of the way.”

Despite the continued jam, Jewish groups supporting the legislation are not framing the back-and-forth as cause for concern.

“The Antisemitism Awareness Act is critical legislation for protecting Jewish students on college campuses, who have faced an appalling deluge of hate over the past year,” Karen Paikin Barall, the vice president of government relations at the Jewish Federations of North America, said in a statement. “We are happy to see progress on advancing the AAA, and will do everything we can to ensure that it gets signed into law in the lame duck session so Jewish students do not have to wait any longer for the protections they deserve.”

Julie Fishman Rayman, the managing director of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, downplayed the latest developments.

“These conversations are a standard part of the negotiation process, and we are hopeful that whether as part of NDAA or via standalone votes, critical legislation to combat antisemitism — including the Antisemitism Awareness Act and the Countering Antisemitism Act — will be passed into law,” Fishman Rayman said in a statement.