It is funny how Musk is looked at by so many as some miracle to privatization of space when he is no different than a any other govt contractor except, as you point out, he was favored by the turd’s administration.
Yes or no, does ULA receive government money regardless of whether they launch at all in a given year? I’ll give you a hint, the answer is not “no.” SpaceX is a threat to the ULA monopoly on the US orbital launch industry, and it is driving down launch costs significantly through innovation. So yes, it’s different from the pre-existing competition.