To me, it's an issue of political deception. Corruption is one of the prime factors in political decay, and history shows that there's nothing good about political decay.

In the US, people are becoming increasingly tolerant of corruption. These days it more often invokes funny euphemisms than action. Politicians have innate incentive to fall into corruption, and it's expected that some of them do from time to time. But, it's the people's job to keep them in check.

If this country values funding science, then it should let the scientists determine where and how the money should be spent, not politicians, not lobbies.

The are two different models for judging someone's actions. Intent and outcome. OP is judging that his intent is bad even if the outcome is good - sometimes that is important to remember.