The assumption that if something doesn't have a clear and immediate ROI it can't possibly have any value is extremely myopic.
Reading some of the comments in this thread it sounds like people are in favor of spending any amount of money on researching any topic without any discrimination whatsoever. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
It's far more extreme - and far less rational - to assert they're worthless, and therefore need to end, based purely on vibes and ideology.
This entire discussion is a 180 from the truth.
These programs shouldn't need defending. Whatever the cranks believe, the returns have been proven decade after decade after decade.
The people who are axing them are the ones who need to justify themselves, not just economically but constitutionally and morally.
So far they've only tried to justify themselves ideologically, which is not even close to being a credible argument.
People celebrating their own destruction by spouting the propaganda they’ve been fed is somehow both terrifying and uniquely interesting to me.