Auditors have started reviewing congressional earmarks in the Transportation Department’s budget.

The department’s inspector general’s office will try to determine the total number and cost of earmarks in DOT’s fiscal 2006 budget, whether the earmarks are part of Transportation’s annual planning and evaluation processes, and how the earmarks affect the department’s mission.

David Barnes, a spokesman for the IG’s office, said the duration of the review, begun Nov. 27, will depend on what auditors find.

The study comes in response to an Aug. 23 request by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Coburn requested that the review determine both the actual spending on earmarks and related costs like staff time and administration. But Barnes said that due to time constraints the audit will evaluate only actual costs.

Coburn is a vocal critic of earmarking, a practice where legislators specify in a bill that a specific entity or project receive funds. The senator has clashed with Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and others over transportation spending, particularly the 2005 federal highway bill, which was widely criticized for containing an unusually high number of earmarks.

Coburn has led efforts in recent weeks to prevent passage of an omnibus spending bill for all federal departments except Homeland Security and Defense, arguing the legislation is laden with pork. By instead passing a resolution to continue current spending levels into next year, Congress can save $17 billion, Coburn has said.