Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) will take over as co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism following Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC)’s exit from Congress at the end of the year.

Manning herself took the helm of the task force just over two years ago from former Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), who relaunched the task force in the mid-2010s. The lead Republican on the task force is Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other co-chairs include Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Grace Meng (D-NY).

“I am honored to be appointed co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism – a vital Congressional institution in the fight to stop antisemitism,” Goldman said in a statement. “I will do my best to emulate Congresswoman Kathy Manning’s leadership and tireless advocacy on this issue, especially in the face of rising antisemitism following the October 7 terror attacks. We must never waver in our resolve to stamp out hate in all its forms and build a better nation for all of us.” 

Manning said she’s “proud to leave the Task Force under the trusted leadership of Congressman Dan Goldman. He has proven to be a strong voice in the fight against antisemitism, and I am confident he will continue to build on the important progress we have made to protect the Jewish community from rising hate.”

Goldman’s signature initiative on antisemitism in his first term has been the Showing Up for Students Act, which authorizes a funding increase for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to combat antisemitism. (The funding proposed by Goldman’s bill would have to be appropriated separately.) The bill has no Republican co-sponsors.

Goldman organized a meeting earlier this year between lawmakers and Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education for civil rights, to discuss campus antisemitism investigations. He called out administrators at Columbia University for failing to properly tackle antisemitism on campus and voted for legislation calling for the ousters of the presidents of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Goldman was one of 22 Democrats who voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for anti-Israel and antisemitic comments following Oct. 7. When Tlaib and others accused Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel of bias in a campus protest case in September, Goldman joined other Democrats in describing Nessel’s critics as antisemitic.

He voted in favor of the Antisemitism Awareness Act and is a co-sponsor of the Countering Antisemitism Act.

Additionally, Goldman led a letter accusing the social media platform X of turning a blind eye to, amplifying and profiting from antisemitism. 

Goldman also condemned as antisemitic the protest outside the Nova Music Festival exhibit in his New York district. His office has been repeatedly vandalized since Oct. 7 and he said he’s faced antisemitic harassment personally.

Recently, Goldman was one of a handful of Jewish lawmakers who participated in a call with the Dutch ambassador about attacks on Jews and Israelis in Amsterdam, which Goldman described as a “pogrom.” 

Goldman’s Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn district includes some neighborhoods with significant Jewish populations. He’s spoken publicly about how visibly Orthodox Jews “bear the disproportionate brunt of antisemitic attacks.”

Last December, Goldman, along with fellow progressive Jewish Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), urged Democratic colleagues to vote “present” on a resolution condemning antisemitism and describing anti-Zionism as antisemitic. Around half of House Democrats ultimately did so. Manning voted for the legislation along with several other Jewish Democrats.

Goldman, Nadler and Raskin accused Republicans of “weaponiz[ing] Jewish pain and the serious problem of antisemitism to score cheap political points.” The resolution is “beneath the dignity of Congress and it is an affront to Jews everywhere,” they said in a statement. They added that the resolution “does not account for the complexity of Judaism itself,” such as the anti-Zionist Satmar sect.

Goldman has accused Republicans of not taking campus antisemitism seriously because they haven’t advanced his legislation or supported additional funding for the Office for Civil Rights and has alleged that Republicans have only addressed antisemitism when it benefits them politically. Manning has leveled similar accusations.

“I, as a Jew, am genuinely concerned about antisemitism. And because I’m genuinely concerned about antisemitism, I care about it from both the right and from the left. It’s unacceptable in any form,” Goldman said while visiting Columbia University in the spring.

Politically, the progressive Goldman falls somewhat to the left of his two predecessors. Goldman also got his start as a Democratic attorney in President-elect Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial and hasn’t hesitated to dive into fights against Trump.