In fact: Whilst the US government was willing to put a lot of money in to the Apollo missions when it was helpful to the space race, research and technological development were not viewed as a priority. Apollo 11 was a political statement in the midst of the space race, and once it had been made, the necessity for more missions to the Moon was gone.
Royal Museums Greenwich
“With the goal achieved NASA faced large funding cuts, making the future of the Apollo missions untenable. There had originally been 20 Apollo missions planned, but technological and research based missions were not seen as important as the achievement of the Moon landing itself, and the final three missions were cancelled.“
The Economic Times
“The two primary causes are money and priorities. The race to put people on the moon was sparked in 1962 by US President John F. Kennedy’s ‘We Choose to Go to the Moon’ address, in which he pledged that by the end of the decade, an American would walk on the moon. After that promise was realized with the Apollo moon landing in 1969, Nasa faced significant financial cuts, thereby ending the Apollo program.”
Britannica
“The Apollo program was a costly endeavor for the United States. While the cost of the program varies between historical sources, most agree that it cost at least $20 billion in 1973 dollars (the equivalent of about $116 billion in 2019). At its peak in the mid-1960s, NASA consumed about 4 percent of annual federal spending, compared with roughly 0.5 percent in recent years.”
Space
“This combination of lower political will and fewer financial resources forced NASA to make some critical decisions in the late 1990s and early 2000s — decisions that still affect Artemis today.”
flerf.org 