The White House escalated its confrontation with California on Monday, saying it will press ahead with enforcement actions against the University of California, Los Angeles after the Justice Department determined the campus failed to safeguard students’ First Amendment and religious-liberty rights. "We want to ensure our colleges and universities are respecting those rights, and UCLA has failed to do that," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened to sue the federal government over the findings and any accompanying sanctions, calling the federal push an overreach. Leavitt brushed aside the litigation threat—"Bring it on, Gavin"—and said the administration is "well within its legal right" to act on the Justice Department’s conclusions. The standoff underscores widening tensions over how universities respond to antisemitism allegations and who sets the standards for campus free-speech compliance. UCLA has not publicly commented on the latest exchange.