WASHINGTON — When it comes to big spenders, it's a bipartisan caucus in the Senate. Of the 10 largest spenders in terms of special-interest provisions, six are Republicans and four are Democrats — including Hawai'i's Daniel K. Inouye, who checks in at No. 8 — according to a study of an omnibus spending bill the Senate is considering this week.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent research organization, studied the $410 billion appropriations bill that funds most of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year through Sept. 30.

The measure includes $7.7 billion worth of small line items that lawmakers direct agencies to spend.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to preserve thousands of earmarks in the spending bill, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship.

McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and would have kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies.

Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama pledged during the campaign to "stop business as usual in Washington," and he quoted the president as having pledged to go line by line to make sure money was spent wisely.

The White House has said that Obama intends to sign the legislation, casting it as leftover business from 2008. Spokesman Robert Gibbs pledged Monday that the White House will issue new guidelines covering earmarks for future bills.

Critics say these earmarks are wasteful and potentially corrupting, but defenders say lawmakers have a better sense of the spending needs in their states than bureaucrats do.

McCain's proposal drew the support of 32 Republicans and two Democrats, and the outcome reflected the enduring value of earmarks to lawmakers. While polls routinely show these pet projects to be unpopular, local governments and constituents often covet them for desired projects.

Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said McCain's call to hold spending level with a year ago "doesn't account for inflation." As an example, he said, some programs would have to be cut if federal workers were to get a pay raise.

While Republican opposition in the House focused more on the bill's overall spending, McCain and allies turned the Senate spotlight squarely on earmarks.

"How does anyone justify some of these earmarks: $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa; $2 million 'for the promotion of astronomy' in Hawai'i; $6.6 million for termite research in New Orleans; $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York," McCain said.

Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, has co-sponsored the largest amount of earmarks for the second straight year. These totals do not include earmarks that were part of a bill passed in the fall that provided full funding for the Pentagon, its military bases and the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal 2009.