This person would be better off looking for grant money elsewhere. That may be harder than I think as a theoretical physicist because I imagine funding is much more driven by governments or other big entities that are more likely to be co-opted by things unrelated to the actual research. But in general, I think a big part of building a research program now is ensuring it is insulated from political BS, which means focusing on funding and partnerships that are actually interested in the outcomes of the research, and ignoring many traditional funding sources that have become red herrings.
(I see the post was killed, it's too bad, I think it's a relevant - maybe not new - discussion to have about political interference in academic work. There was some discussion the other day about Texas trying to eliminate tenure from universities, effectively so the government can interfere with teaching. The kind of requirement for grants discussed here is a similar overreach)
