[marcosdumay]

I've heard plenty of "what else do I have to work with?", that has about the same meaning.

[rhizome]

The politician's syllogism comes to mind: "Something must be done, this is something, so we must do this."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism

[gipp]

That at least acknowledges that it's an unsatisfactory situation, OP's conversation didn't even have that level of awareness.