United States

That polarization remained at the fore as the new Republican majority in the House locked heads with the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Obama administration over the federal budget for fiscal year 2011. Unable to agree on that budget, the previous Congress, in October 2010, had passed the first in a series of stopgap measures to keep the federal government operating until agreement could be reached on a long-term budget. Both Republicans and Democrats believed that reductions to the budget were necessary in response to the federal government’s soaring deficit; however, they disagreed vehemently on the extent, targets, and timing of budget cuts. House Republicans upped the political ante when they announced that they would not vote for another temporary budget and demanded deep reductions. The threat of a shutdown of all but essential services of the federal government came within a few hours of being realized, but on April 8, 2011, an agreement was reached that resulted in passage a week later by both the House (260–167) and the Senate (81–19) of a compromise budget for the remainder of the fiscal year that cut $38 billion in federal spending. Neither side was completely satisfied, and a large number of Republicans, many of whom had come into office as part of the wave of Tea Party opposition to big government, chose not to vote with the majority of their party in support of the compromise. Democrats and Republicans were also engaged in dramatic ideological battle on the state level, perhaps most notably in Wisconsin and Indiana, where collective bargaining for state employees and the role of unions were at issue.

The Arab Spring, intervention in Libya, and the killing of Osama bin Laden

American foreign policy was tested by the huge changes that were taking place early in 2011 in the Middle East, where popular uprisings led to regime change in Tunisia (see Jasmine Revolution) and Egypt (see Egypt Uprising of 2011) and to widespread demonstrations aimed at achieving government reform throughout the region. Collectively, these events would become known as the “Arab Spring.” When Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi brutally turned the considerable forces of his military on those rebelling against his rule (see Libya Revolt of 2011), a coalition of U.S. and European forces sought to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe by intervening militarily with warplanes and cruise missiles. On March 27, as the conflict continued, the United States handed over the primary leadership of the effort to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Pres. Barack Obama (seated second from left) and various government officials—including Vice Pres. Joe Biden (seated left), Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (seated right), and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (seated second from right)—receiving updates in the Situation Room of the White House during the Osama bin Laden mission, May 2011.Pete Souza—Official White House Photo

At the end of April the southeastern United States, especially Alabama, was ravaged by a rash of destructive tornadoes and severe storms that left more than 300 dead (see Super Outbreak of 2011).

On May 1 Obama made a dramatic late-night television appearance to announce that U.S. special forces had killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks of 2001, in a firefight at a fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. U.S. forces took custody of the body, confirmed bin Laden’s identity through DNA testing, and buried his body at sea.

The debt ceiling debate

In the spring and summer of 2011, the national government faced the possibility of default on the public debt and a downgrading of its credit rating unless Democrats and Republicans could agree on whether and how to increase the congressionally mandated national debt ceiling. That ceiling of $14.29 trillion was reached in mid-May, but, by shifting funds, the Treasury Department was able to push out the anticipated deadline for default until August 2. Although the debt ceiling had been raised more than three dozen times since 1980, House Republicans, responding in large measure to Tea Party initiatives, insisted that the ceiling not be raised unless there were commensurate cuts in government spending. Republican proposals called for from $4 trillion to $6.2 trillion in spending cuts, especially to entitlement programs, including radical overhauls of Medicare and Medicaid. While Democrats also advocated spending cuts, they insisted that Medicare and Medicaid be protected, and they proposed tax increases for the wealthiest Americans as well as an end to tax breaks for some corporations, especially oil companies.

The failed “grand bargain”