( CNN ) -- As a spending bill loaded with pork makes its way through Congress , President Obama is getting pushback from members of his own party who are questioning his vow to end wasteful spending . The Senate could vote on the spending bill as early as Thursday . The president on Wednesday pledged turn tide on an `` era of fiscal irresponsibility , '' reiterating his campaign promise that the days of `` pork ... as a strategy '' are over . And in a prime-time address before a joint session of Congress , Obama last week praised the $ 787 billion stimulus package signed into law , telling the nation , `` I 'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks , and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities . '' But some in the audience found that hard to swallow . `` There was just a roar of laughter -- because there were earmarks , '' said Sen. Claire McCaskill , D-Missouri . Earmarks , sometimes called `` pork , '' are unrelated pet projects that members of Congress insert in spending bills . Watch more on the earmarks in the bill » . The scoffing continues as the president hammers away at reducing wasteful spending and saving taxpayers money while lawmakers on Capitol Hill load up a spending bill with more than 8,000 earmarks totaling nearly $ 8 billion . The legislation in question is a $ 410 billion omnibus bill that would keep the federal government running through the rest of the fiscal year , which ends in September 2009 . According to Taxpayers for Common Sense , a group that monitors government spending , the bill includes : . About 60 percent of the earmarks are from Democrats , and about 40 percent are from Republicans , according to Taxpayers for Common Sense . Ryan Alexander , the president of the Taxpayers for Common Sense , pointed out that not all earmarks are bad . `` They 're not always good or bad . What 's bad is the process . We do n't know why certain projects get earmark funds and why other projects do n't . Some of them may be good . But that could be just as well by accident as it is by design , because we have no idea why these projects are funded and why other projects are n't , '' he said . Earlier this week , 14 Democratic senators met to talk about their concerns with the spending . On Wednesday , Democratic Sens . Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold called on Obama to veto the bill . Watch Feingold talk about a 'teary-eyed ' defense of earmarks » . `` But the bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no one , least of all the government . It only exacerbates the problem and hastens the day of reckoning , '' Bayh wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial published Wednesday . Democrats blocked amendments by Sens . John McCain , R-Arizona , and Tom Coburn , R-Oklahoma , that would have narrowed the spending on earmarks . `` So much for the promise of change . This may be -- in all the years I have been coming to this floor to complain about the earmark pork barrel corruption that this system has bred , this may be probably the worst , probably the worst , '' McCain said Tuesday . The spending bill made it through the House last week . A vote in the Senate could come as early as Thursday , but it 's unclear if there are the 60 votes necessary to sent it to the floor since some Democrats are n't supporting it . Obama is expected to sign the bill when it reaches his desk . But Democrats speaking out against the pork could just be flexing their muscles , said CNN contributor Roland Martin . `` I would love to see these same Democrats have the courage to actually stand up , look their fellow senators in the eye , Democrats and Republicans , and say , OK , let 's get rid of your particular project , '' he said . `` What often happens in Congress is , they complain in terms of the general ... What I am saying is , call them out . Put it on the table , '' he said . Those defending the earmarks say they make up just a small portion -- less than 1 percent -- of the overall bill . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-California , on Thursday defended congressional earmarks , despite calls from the White House earlier this week to reform the process . `` The legislatively initiated proposals in the appropriations bill , I think , are an appropriate function of Congress of the United States , '' Pelosi said . But Pelosi said she does believe Congress should cut back on the number of earmarks . Pelosi said after Congress finishes the $ 410 billion spending bill for this year , she planned to work with the Obama administration to find ways to reduce the number of earmarks in future spending bills . The White House says this bill is just last year 's unfinished business -- and next time , it will be different . `` We 'll change the rules going forward , '' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday when asked about the legislation . Obama presented his budget summary to Congress last week , but the full details of his 2010 budget wo n't be available until April . CNN 's Jason Carroll , Joe Johns , Kristi Keck and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report .
$ 410 billion spending bill for fiscal year includes 8,000 earmarks . Democratic Senators . Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold asked Obama to veto bill . Senate could vote on bill as early as Thursday . Defenders of bill say earmarks make up less than 10 percent of it .