Obama's Zika Request: "Slush Fund" or Flexibility?

The $1.9 billion emergency spending request President Obama has sent to Congress to battle the Zika virus is about the closest thing to a blank check that Obama could ask for.

While most federal spending bills are limited to one or two years, the Zika money the White House is seeking has no expiration date and the funds will "remain available until expended." And the request contains broad transfer authority, allowing the administration to move funds for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention across line items and even to other agencies, including Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.