The only reason this happens is because our system is so weird. In every other country, funding is automatic and doesn’t need to be authorized separately. The fix is to switch to a similar setup. Of course, that will never happen, as it would take away this bludgeon the GOP uses to try to get its way.
The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal. The first book is called The Calculating Stars. Basically, an alternate history where (spoiler for the opening chapter) ::: spoiler spoiler a meteor wipes out the east coast and kick-starts climate change, causing the Space Age to start 10 years early. ::: It follows a Jewish computer (a woman who literally runs calculations for NASA, as seen in Hidden Figures) who wants to become an astronaut, and her struggles with the racism and misogyny of the 1950s.