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Obama signs the Budget Control Act after a debt-ceiling crisis

On 2 August 2011 President Obama signed S. 365, the Budget Control Act, as Public Law 112-25, raising the debt ceiling and creating a sequester path if a supercommittee failed. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 2 August 2011 President Obama signed S. 365, the Budget Control Act, as Public Law 112-25, raising the debt ceiling and creating a sequester path if a supercommittee failed. The 1 March 2013 sequester is a child.

Context

House Republicans withheld a clean ceiling. Neighbouring sequester 2013 is the child cut. He did not sit as Speaker. Boehner, Reid, and Geithner share the bargain. S&P downgraded days later — a neighbour print, not this signature’s unique rating.

Sequester 1 March 2013 is the child. ARRA 2009 is an earlier opposite fiscal pulse.

A United States president proposes, signs, vetoes, and directs the executive. Congress enacts statutes. The Federal Reserve, states, courts, and later presidents share later series. Office-holding is not authorship of every later outcome. Allegation is not a completed judgment. Legislative achievements require shared congressional attribution. He does not set the federal funds rate, write a state Medicaid waiver by himself, or convert a 2009 oath into a unique 2016 uninsured coefficient. A signature is not unique authorship of a House and Senate text. A troop order is not authorship of every later round. He is not president as of 27 August 2026. Donald Trump is president from 20 January 2025. Joe Biden was president 2021–2025.

Why it matters

The path is political polarization and public-debt sustainability: a completed ceiling-and-sequester bargain after a near-default fight.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Barack Obama

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.55 · verified

    He signed. Congress enacted the bargain. OMB later ordered the sequester child.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.BBC — Barack Obama signs bill to raise US debt ceilingBBC · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Congress.gov — S.365, Budget Control Act of 2011, Public Law 112-25Congress.gov · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Congress.gov carries the official instrument or communique. BBC records the same dated act independently.

Established: 2 August 2011 signature of Public Law 112-25, independently reported.

Not established: a unique later Treasury default that did not sit, or that every later rating uniquely sat because of that Tuesday.

Congress enacted the bargain. OMB later ordered the sequester child.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Obama signs the Budget Control Act after a debt-ceiling crisis, not a later speech about Obama signs the Budget Control Act after a debt-ceiling crisis.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He signed. Congress enacted the bargain. OMB later ordered the sequester child. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorBarack Obama
  2. contributed toFactObama signs the Budget Control Act after a debt-ceiling crisis
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Political Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Obama signs the Budget Control Act after a debt-ceiling crisis. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-obama-bca-2011

https://factrail.ai/facts/us-obama-bca-2011

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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