Who Are The Biggest Porkers: New Report Details Earmark Spending

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2010— -- Here's a man-bites-dog story: Spending on congressional pet projects is actually down this year.

The government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste publishes each year the "Pig Book", documenting the billions of dollars Congress spends on pet projects inserted into the spending bill by individual members of Congress. This year's Pig Book shows that spending on these projects, known as earmarks, is 15 percent lower this than last year.

And earmark spending is down 40 percent from 2006, when the Republican-controlled Congress spent a record-high $29.5 billion on earmarks.

"While everything else in Washington is going up rapidly, Congress has managed to reduce the number and costs of earmarks," said Thomas Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.

That doesn't mean Congress has kicked the habit entirely. The 2010 Pig Book documents 9,129 earmark projects at a cost of $16.5 billion.

Some of the priciest items are in the defense budget, including $465 million for an F-35 jet engine the Pentagon says it doesn't need.

The largest earmark this year is an anonymous request for $2.5 billion for 10 C-17 military transport aircrafts.

The Pentagon's budget also includes $20 million for a World War II museum, inserted by Louisiana's two senators, Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter, and the district's Republican congressman Ahn "Joseph" Cao. The Pentagon didn't ask for the museum funding, but supporters say it will honor veterans and bring tourists to New Orleans.

Also tucked into the defense budget are items that have nothing to do with war, including $18.9 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Study of the Senate in Boston, inserted by the state's congressional delegation and the late senator's good friend, Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Supporters say it will be one of the nation's pre-eminent educational institutions and will include a replica of the Senate floor.

All told, the defense budget included a $6 billion on Congressional earmarks and comprised more than half of all earmark spending this year.

There were also other questionable earmarks, such as $4.8 million for wood utilization research in 11 states. Such research, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, has cost taxpayers $100 million since 1985.

In the House, lawmakers added $17 million for the International Fund for Ireland, an independent international organization established in 1986 to tackle the causes for violence and "build reconciliation" between people in Ireland. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced a bill last year to cut funding for the organization.

Earmarks include money designated for specific projects that don't have to go through the regular competitive process required for other federal spending. They have become increasingly controversial in recent years because of the rising federal deficit and the economic situation.

Of the total 9,129 earmarks designated for fiscal year 2010, about 60 percent in spending was inserted by Democrats, and 40 percent by Republicans.

Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran Is King of Earmarks

The Pig Book crowns Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, as the King of Pork. For the third year in a row he was -- by far -- the biggest earmarker of all.

For 2010, Sen. Cochran is responsible for 240 earmark projects at a cost of $490 million. In the past three years, Cochran is responsible for more than $2 billion in earmarks. Most of it was for his home state but also included $200,000 for the National Opera in Washington, D.C.

ABC News tried to get a reaction from Sen. Cochran to the Pig Book, but his spokesman Chris Gallegos said that the senator "has chosen not to comment on this story."

Among other top spenders in the Senate: Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., requested $26.5 million in funding for 85 labor, health and human services, and education projects; Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. -- along with fellow Republican congressmen from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Todd Tiahrt -- asked for $3.5 million for the National Institute for Aviation Research; Senate Appropriator Mary Landrieu earmarked $1 million for the tourist spot Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, D.C.; Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, earmarked $7.3 million to continue the grant program named after him; and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., requested $7 million for the Robert C. Byrd Institute of Advanced Flexible Manufacturing Systems.

In the House, Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., set the record for the highest dollar amount of earmarks -- a staggering $148.4 million.

Hawaii led the way in states with the most pork per capita, followed by North Dakota and West Virginia.

A White House analysis released Monday showed similar results. It found that members of Congress obtained a total of 2,000 fewer pet projects for their states and districts, resulting in a 17 percent drop in the number of earmarks and a 27 percent cost reduction.

"All too often, earmarks are an easy vehicle for special interest dealmaking -- inserted into congressional spending bills without filter for merit, need, priority, or any scrutiny," White House budget chief Peter Orszag said in a statement. "Although more needs to be done, the news is encouraging: Earmarks are down by double-digit percentages."

Although earmark spending is down, virtually every other category of federal spending is way up. Indeed, earmark spending represents less than one-fifth of one percent of federal spending.

ABC News' Huma Khan and Z. Byron Wolf contributed to this report.