WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers representing 16 states -- all but two receiving more money from Washington than they pay in federal taxes -- have launched a new effort to block federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel project that runs between the two states that get back the least.

In a letter, 27 lawmakers asked President Donald Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney, to include Gateway in a list of proposed spending cuts to be submitted to Congress. The spending bill includes at least $540 million to be used for Gateway.

The latest anti-Gateway effort was spearheaded by Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., whose state received $1.41 for every dollar paid in federal taxes in 2015, according to the State University of New York's Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Budd unsuccessfully tried to strip Gateway funding from the House version of the spending bill last year. House Republican leaders allowed a vote on his amendment and a majority of the GOP conference voted aye.

"I've been fighting the Gateway Project since last year," Budd said. "The letter sends the same message that my amendment on this issue did: House Republicans do not want this tunnel funded. I'm hopeful that the package of spending cuts that the president sends to Congress will include these funds."

New Jersey helps subsidize states such as North Carolina. The Garden State got 74 cents back for every dollar in federal taxes in 2015, lower than any other state. New York was next with 81 cents.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who helped secure the Gateway funding, responded: "I'm sure I can find a series of programs that are important to them, get a letter from a bunch of my colleagues and say that, 'This is what you should rescind.'"

The Trump administration is considering trying to blow up the bipartisan agreement on spending by demanding cuts in domestic programs but keeping the increases for the Pentagon.

Talk of spending cuts follows passage of the Republican tax bill that the Congressional Budget Office said will increase the deficit by $1.9 trillion over 10 years.

Even if House Republicans go along, Trump's efforts likely will fail in the Senate, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Fox News Channel that he was opposed to the idea.

"He was involved in the negotiation and signed the bill," said McConnell, R-Ky. "He can't make an agreement one month and say, 'OK, we really didn't mean it,' and come back the next month and say, 'Oh, we really didn't mean our agreement.'"

Congressional Democrats successfully demanded increased spending for homeland security, veterans, transportation, fighting opioid abuse, and other domestic programs as part of any deal to also boost funding for the military.

The reason there was a cap on military spending in the first place is because House Republicans preferred that to raising taxes under an earlier budget deal with President Barack Obama.

Trump might be willing to go along with the Republican lawmakers' request. He had threatened to shut down the government rather than help fund construction of a new tunnel under the Hudson River and a new Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River.

Menendez said killing Gateway would hurt the national, not just the regional, economy.

"Our region generates 20 percent of GDP for the entire nation," he said. "If they don't want to kill 20 percent of GDP, they shold be advocating Gateway at the end of the day."

Besides North Carolina, the lawmakers came from Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Only Colorado and Texas did not receive more money from Washington than its residents paid in taxes.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.