General Discussion

When the administration was laying off large number of people - there was a valid argument regarding whether or not presidents have the authority to not spend money that Congress had appropriated. There were times that this was a useful/relevant argument... and times that it wasn't. But it was at least valid.

In this case, there are NO funds left that Congress has appropriated for these benefits. So there's no constitutional question of whether he has to spend those dollars. The question is whether or not he can spend other dollars (in two categories of funds) and whether or not a court can force him to do it.

Both conversations are interesting - but neither is particularly relevant because KBJ didn't have a choice. I'm hoping that the debate is quickly moot (because we win concessions and the government reopens) - but it's unlikely that we can win on either point (with this court). So she did the best that she could with the few options she had.