> Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding?

The list is long. First and foremost, it's never a good idea to forget that wherever there's intelligence there's always also stupidity. Then it's generally good advice not to confuse intelligence for wisdom. And between this and very long lists of cognitive biases, there's always the good old "Fuck ya, got mine!" Rule of Acquisition to remember. Et cetera.

> Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding?

Because a high IQ and a science degree does not mean that those people make good political decision. A lot of political decision making is driven by ideology and identity.

current administration is guided by the looniest of the loons Claremont Institute, who truly believe that any dollar not spent on border defense or offensive military capability is wasted.

Lots of voters didn't believe Trump would do the things he campaigned on. "I'll defund research" can be interpreted as "probably that other research, the stuff I don't like or think is useless" by some.

There are many reasons. Many high IQ people don’t want to lose their jobs and favor stricter immigration policies. They would probably vote for Democrats if Democrats weren’t so lax on immigration.

And, many of my friends who were doing PHD they used to follow dems, but are now supporting republicans after they got citizenship....