gm! @kyle
I am deeply, wholeheartedly stunned by the selection of words you are using to summarize your sentiment in the tl;dr above.
Words create worlds! It’s a conscious choice!
What you are feeding back to me (FDD) and what I am learning here is that taking into account the current situation and the overall context (see also Hiring Freeze?) we could review priorities and if necessary shift the focus accordingly.
Coming back to Words creates worlds! I d like to highlight these three:
What’s awesome about calling another organizational entity a cost center?
What’s awesome about making the assumption that FDD seems to be building for themselves?
In a decentralized environment shared understanding of the broader (business) context and priorities, a culture of embracing positive conflict and a felt sense of purpose can better be cultivated and balanced through an approach of having intelligent conversations.
Just compare these two approaches:
A World 
with conversations like these:
This conversation is initiated from an inner felt sense of fear. The urgency to act now and protection against some externality that one can’t control seem to guide the interaction between people. One adopts a defensive or offensive position. The other one reacts in an offensive or defensive way. Roles may switch back and forth. A victimized state gets acted out. Both eventually find themselves defending their position and trying to execute power over the other in order to survive.
A World 
with Conversations like these:
This conversation is initiated from a state of trust and presence. One would approach the situation from an inner felt sense of wholeness, being okay with oneself and courage. A genuine curiosity would be rising and one is wondering how we - together - could master this situation of turmoil and uncertainty. What is emerging here and what questions for which I do not have answers yet can I ask? How can I serve the people to thrive sustainably in the long run? How can I have power with them and partner with them?
Which world would you intentionally want to manifest? Which quality of conversations regarding budget do you want to lead?
I sincerely believe we do have a conscious choice here. And no, I am not telling anybody that it is easy, but I believe it’s going to be worth it to aspire for World Conversations.
-Tigress