I suspect my model of the method used to allocate government funding may be oversimplified/incorrect altogether, but I am under the impression that those serving on the House Science Committee have a significant say in where funds are allocated for scientific research.

My impression is that the House Science Committee is too high to aim for. A more plausible scenario would be MIRI convincing someone at the NSF to give them grants.

Alas, I think you are aiming too high. If every politician believed that all basic research had positive net expected-value, that would naturally benefit research of the type that MIRI thinks should be conducted.

Once that is the case, movement towards MIRI as a research grant recipient might be worth the effort of Joe Citizen. Until then, I'm skeptical that advocating for MIRI specifically is likely to be worth the effort, politically.

My question was how you could direct funds to MIRI, not whether there were stupid House Science Committee members. I'm suggesting that directing funds to MIRI in particular might not be politically feasible.