Try to understand the weird way the US government gets money

(CNN) — The current drama should feel so familiar:► A deadline looms for a must-pass, stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown.► Former President Donald Trump is encouraging Republicans to embrace a shutdown if they can’t get Democrats to agree to add controversial immigration-related language – this time, related to noncitizens voting – into the spending bill.►Republicans don’t have the votes to execute Trump’s command in the House, where they have the majority, and much less in the Senate, where Democrats are in control.The resolution will feel familiar too. House Speaker Mike Johnson will need to ignore Trump and seek help from Democrats to pass a short-term funding bill – something he unveiled over the weekend that includes $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service, which is ramping up security for Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris after two attempts on Trump’s life.Variations on that pattern of a looming deadline to fund the government have been repeated through multiple funding fights to the point where most Americans’ eyes probably glaze over at talk of a possible government shutdown. It’s a serial threat that hasn’t come to be since Trump was in the White House and Republicans controlled...