Defunding is perennial and global, even if it’s not a targetted action like in the US. Consider for example that in the last 25 years the number of PhDs doubled while the funding of the National Science Foundation stayed flat. In the EU the situation is better, with funding at least keeping pace with inflation, but national funding depends on the whims of the current ruling party (I’m in the Czech Repoublic btw where we just elected a right-wing billionaire). Even in the best case the average acceptance rate for a grant is 10 or 15%, but in my experience it’s lower.

As for lawyers being in charge, I mean what’s the degree you go get if you want to enter politics? In China it’s engineering. In the West, almost a third of politicians have law degrees even though the fraction of lawyers in society is much less than one percent.