Lawmakers want billions in government spending on unusual pet projects, Fox News investigation finds

EXCLUSIVE: $1,750,000 to spruce up the Japanese Garden in Portland. $436,100 for a "meditation and restorative yoga" program in New Jersey. And $250,000 to expand the Michelle Obama Library in California.

These are just some of the controversial Community Funding Project requests filed by federal lawmakers as earmarks make a return in Congress. 

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have asked for at least $6 billion in additional funding for local projects ahead of the upcoming federal budget, Fox News can reveal exclusively. 

And, while many lawmakers have tried to limit their spending to fields such as health care, transportation and education, some of the least critical projects are also the most expensive.

In fact, one of the largest requests comes from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., who wants $375 million to restore the Waukegan Carnegie Museum. According to his website, the money will go toward a "new community and event space, preserving history of the community, offering cultural enrichment, and thereby supporting nearby local businesses."
That is just the beginning of the list of controversial projects.

There are requests for $2 million in funding for a new art collection at the Brooklyn Museum in New York; $2 million for a Pickleball and Fitness Circuit in Orange, Calif.; $1.5 million to provide free public Wi-Fi in a California city and $250,000 for a performing arts center that, according to the website of Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., "should be more than a beautifully designed building."

Other earmarks are likely to face strong Republican pushback. There are dozens of projects that list diversity and equity among their goals, including $742,000 for a New York program that would feature "conversations around difficult issues such as racism, gender discrimination and cultural bias" and $166,000 for the development of an equity program at Lincoln University.