NASA ain’t what it used to be...
NASA's been just another gubmint pork barrel for a long while. Richard Shelby changed parties to remain in a position to benefit Alabama's aerospace industry, and managed to delay development of SpaceX. Overall, short of locking him up (which is what Biden will do if he gets another term), Musk and his engineering powerhouses have prevailed. This past week, a Falcon 9 landed on an offshore droneship for the 250th such landing, and my guess is will orbit the Moon and return before the end of 2025.
Years ago Boeing had the "dragon lady" upper hand in procurement at the DoD; before that, during the SST competition in the 1960s, the company pitched a proposal that neither they nor anyone else could build, just to keep the contract out of the hands of Lockheed. Ultimately, the US SST program budget was devoured by Vietnam.