What Happened to the Art of the Deal?

President Trump has played fast and loose with federal law during the current government shutdown to fund the things he considers important. He has found ways to pay military service members and F.B.I. agents. He has distributed tariff revenues to women with small children and arranged billions of dollars in financial support for Argentina. He has even ordered the Interior Department to keep federal lands open for hunting.

And what has Mr. Trump refused to fund?

As the shutdown enters its second month, the president still will not agree to an extension of the federal tax credits that allow millions of Americans to afford health insurance. Last week the Trump administration also said it would stop distributing food stamps to more than 40 million lower-income families, declining to tap the program’s emergency reserve fund.

A federal judge in Rhode Island intervened on Friday, ordering the administration to use the program’s reserves. A second federal judge, in Massachusetts, indicated that she was also prepared to rule against the administration if it did not agree to continue distributing food stamps. We urge the administration to abide by the decision and allow millions of Americans to receive food aid.

The government has never paused the distribution of food stamps, even during past shutdowns, and the threat is just one of the ways this shutdown is causing pain. More than a million federal workers are not being paid. The Small Business Administration is not making loans. Regulators are not conducting many routine safety inspections of food processing plants.

Mr. Trump and his congressional allies could end all of this by doing what they should have done months ago: making a deal. Under current Senate rules, Republicans manifestly do not have enough votes to pass a funding bill on their own, and it is absurd that they continue to insist that Democrats should simply acquiesce. The hard work of governing in a democracy is hammering out a compromise.

Mr. Trump already has sought to pile pressure on Democrats by suspending funding for projects in blue states, including the important Hudson River train tunnel between New Jersey and New York and mass transit in Chicago. The attempt to raise the stakes by suspending the distribution of food stamps is unconscionable. The administration would literally be keeping food from the mouths of hungry children. Food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provide a monthly credit to millions of households that do not make enough money to feed themselves. Many recipients work low-wage jobs. Others are disabled or elderly.