The governor flat out lied and said Kevyn Orr hadn't recommended bankruptcy to him. But his letter says Orr recommended it on July 16th.

Anyway, the battle now moves in part to whether a plan that proposes to cut pensions will be considered a legal plan. The bankruptcy code says the plan cannot violate law. It does not say what law. Federal pension rules [[ERISA) do not apply to public pensions, so it is not clear that there is any applicable federal law to trump the state law. At least none I have uncovered yet.