Exactly right. Government research is very self-serving.
1. University researchers want to keep the gravy flowing to fund their PhD students.
2. The government managers want to keep the gravy flowing because that is their livelihood.
Nobody looks at the results critically nor is there any objective measure for success nor is there ever an end-date. It just keeps going and going and going.
A boss of mine once called it “annuity research” and “hobby research.” There is no accountability to produce useful results.
Which is why we'll have to analyze data from China or Russia if we want to be accurate regarding "Climate Change".