Biden's new $2 trillion spending plan is Green New Deal in 'disguise,' GOP lawmakers say

President Biden rolled out a $2 trillion "American Jobs Plan" focused on infrastructure and climate change, and Republicans immediately decried it as the Green New Deal warmed over. Even an iconic liberal magazine agreed it had a lot of similarities to progressives' signature but controversial climate blueprint.

According to a fact sheet released by the White House, the plan spends $621 billion in "transportation infrastructure and resilience." The funding would be applied to repairing roads and bridges, "modernizing public transit" and making improvements to airports, waterways and ports. A substantial portion of that infrastructure funding, $174 billion, would be applied toward propping up the electric vehicle market in the U.S.

"U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is only one-third the size of the Chinese EV market. The president believes that must change. He is proposing a $174 billion investment to win the EV market. His plan will enable automakers to spur domestic supply chains from raw materials to parts, retool factories to compete globally, and support American workers to make batteries and EVs," reads the plan. 

"It will give consumers point of sale rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made EVs, while ensuring that these vehicles are affordable for all families and manufactured by workers with good jobs. It will establish grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030," the White House outline said. 

The proposal also spends $213 billion to "build, preserve, and retrofit more than 2 million homes and commercial buildings; modernize our nation’s schools, community colleges, and early learning facilities; and upgrade veterans’ hospitals and federal buildings."

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez formally proposed the Green New Deal in 2019. It was supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate. A major focus of the proposal was retrofitting buildings with taxpayer dollars to make them more energy efficient.

Biden's plan also seeks to "establish the United States as a leader" in climate science, innovation as well as research and development.

"The President is calling on Congress to invest $35 billion in the full range of solutions needed to achieve technology breakthroughs that address the climate crisis and position America as the global leader in clean energy technology and clean energy jobs," the plan said. "This includes launching ARPA-C to develop new methods for reducing emissions and building climate resilience, as well as expanding across-the-board funding for climate research."

House GOP Whip Steve Scalise said Biden's infrastructure and jobs plan is the Green New Deal under a new name.

Other Republican lawmakers said Biden repackaged the Green New Deal.

The liberal media outlet Mother Jones described Biden's plan as the "closest" proposal to the Green New Deal. 

Progressive organizations have said Biden's proposal is a step toward the Green New Deal but doesn't go far enough.

To fund the American Jobs Plan, Biden is proposing a corporate tax rate increase to 28% as well as raising the top income tax rate for individuals and families.