which the house banned this year. so what's this all about? watchdog groups worry it's a backdoor way around the ban. the house armed services chaim cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from a variety of defense programs and put the money in a newly created pot dubbed "the mission force enharsment transfer fund." lawmakers are using it to pay for projects and policy proposals. to some it is a pet project slush fund. >> this never has never been in this bill before. it's certainly suspicious that it has occurred for the first time after earmarks have been placed under a moratorium, and it looks like a work-around. >> reporter: but it is another form of pork. >> well, no, i disagree. i don't think that it's pork because you're not able to allocate where it goes. >> reporter: that is a big difference. with traditional earmarks, lawmakers guaranteed funding for projects back home. here, the defense department has final say over the money. but in some cases there appears to be little doubt lawmakers'