I’ve been a politician for most of my adult life. I understand that politics can sometimes be rough. But the brutal harm that the Trump administration and Republican congressional leaders are needlessly inflicting on millions of Americans is shocking.

The basic facts aren’t hard to understand, even if the cruelty is hard to comprehend.

As part of a political power play over the budget, the lawless Trump administration has decided to withhold billions of dollars that should be funding SNAP payments — known to many people as food stamps — leaving millions of families without access to food and forcing food banks across the country into an emergency scramble.

The administration has the money, power and legal obligation to fund these payments even during the government shutdown. They just aren’t doing it. They are making a choice to impose massive suffering.

That’s not putting Americans first — especially when the same administration somehow manages to find $40 billion to interfere in Argentina’s presidential election to help out the president’s buddy.

At the same time, millions of families are facing devastating and unaffordable

© The Hill