Bush Threatens More Vetoes in Final Year

Jan. 28, 2008 — -- Hours before President Bush delivers the final State of the Union address of his presidency, Bush said he plans to warn Congress that in his remaining month in office, he will veto any bill that doesn't cut earmarks by 50 percent.

"Tonight I'm going to be speaking about the fact that last year I stood before Congress and said 'the American people expect you to earn their trust by cutting down the number of earmarks," Bush told ABC News Radio's White House correspondent Ann Compton in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office.

Going further than he has ever gone on the issue, Bush is threatening to veto any legislation that doesn't cut by 50 percent the so-called pork-barrel spending and special projects that members fight to get for their home districts.

"These are special interest projects put in to conference reports and never voted on. There's not hearings on whether they make sense, and they are not voted on by the Congress," Bush said.

"Last year I asked [Congress to] voluntarily reduce those. This year I am going to veto any bill that doesn't cut them by 50 percent and will issue an executive order tomorrow to make it clear to agencies that money will not be spent unless it's been voted on by the Congress," Bush told Compton.

Listen to the interview HERE.

Last week, Republicans in Congress called on for "an immediate moratorium" on earmarking money for pet projects and urged Democrats to join them in establishing a bipartisan panel to set strict new standards for such spending.

"Pork-barrel spending has outraged American families and eroded public confidence in our institution," Republican leaders wrote in a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Friday. "Both of our parties bear responsibility for this failure."

With public approval of Congress is at record-low levels, the White House today is highlighting earmark reform as a major item in the president's final State of the Union address.

"Tonight in his State of the Union address, the president will announce unprecedented steps he is taking to reduce and reform earmarks," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Monday.