I work in the same field and actually asked my boss about this a couple of months ago (since they’ve been in the field longer) - you’re actually chilling because during recessions the government is likely to award more money for research as part of a stimulus package.

One of the other comments mentioned government shutdowns - I will say that in my experience even that doesn’t affect research that much. If a budget isn’t passed yet, the grant-making department usually just operates on the assumption that they’ll get the same amount as last year and awards grants based on that number. This past year, DHHS was actually funded in full before the fiscal year started so they were totally exempt from the big government shutdown and were awarding grants as normal.

Interesting to see another FIRE-minded person in my field (and someone so close to my age! I’m 24!).