So far, 30 states, including New York, have approved the $300 supplemental unemployment insurance payments that came from the White House's executive order, according to CNBC.

The administration's executive order, signed by the president earlier this month as a way to bypass Congress and enact its own program, takes funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and turns them into $300 weekly payments to supplement state unemployment benefits. These payments amount to half of what people had been receiving under CARES Act provisions that expired last month (the administration had said $400, but this number is contingent on state governments upping their own contribution).

Despite the order's questionable legality, 30 state governments have said they will begin distributing the funds. CNBC said that those already on unemployment won't need to do anything extra to receive the money, as it will be applied automatically, as were the $600 payments. Technically, unemployed workers will need to certify that they are unemployed due to the pandemic, but CNBC said that most have already done so.

While it would be tough to find someone who wouldn't appreciate an extra $300 a week, especially among the unemployed, Goldman Sachs analysts characterized the move as too little, too late, according to CNN Business. The financial firm noted that it will take time for the money to get to the intended recipients and, in the meanwhile, personal income will take a precipitous fall, which will severely cut consumer spending, the thing fueling the entire economy. The bank came to similar conclusions as a recent National Bureau of Economic Research study, which made the point that people who don't have money don't spend money, which is bad for the economy overall.

Another issue with the plan, according to the Wall Street Journal, is its funding. Since the funding will apparently come out of FEMA, which has $44 billion to give, the money would run out in a little over a month, far ahead of the Dec. 31 drawdown date in the executive order. For comparison's sake, the federal government spent about $250 billion in the last round of benefits; the current funds available are not even half of that.

The White House made its move in reaction to the failure of talks between lawmakers on a new pandemic aid package. The two sides remain deadlocked, according to MarketWatch, with no further talks having taken place in weeks. Despite this, the parties remain hopeful that a deal can eventually be reached, but the timing of such an agreement is unknown.