February 2011 Current Events: U.S. News

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World News | Disasters & Science News

Here are the key events in United States news for the month of February 2011.

• Packers Beat Steelers in Super Bowl XLV (Feb. 6): The Green Bay Packers take the championship back to Titletown after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25 in the most-watched television broadcast ever. An estimated 111 million people tune in to see quarterback Aaron Rogers lead the Packers to their 13th league championship, more than any other team in the NFL.

• President Obama Proposes 2012 Federal Budget (Feb. 14): The $3.8 trillion budget proposal by President Obama runs into immediate trouble in Congress among lawmakers who say it tries to do too much while cutting the deficit too little. Republicans and liberal budget experts agree that the plan doesn't go far enough to reduce the deficit, despite a $1.6 trillion savings over 10 years.

• Teachers and State Employees Protest in Wisconsin (Feb. 15): New Wis. governor Scott Walker puts forward a plan to cut the bargaining rights and benefits of public workers. State employees and teachers stage protests in Madison, camping out with sleeping bags near the Capitol's rotunda. Democratic senators flee Wisconsin in order to halt action in the state Senate.

• Obama Administration Determines Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional (Feb. 23): In a legal and political shift, President Obama determines that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The Justice Department will stop defending the law in court. The Defense of Marriage Act is the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The administration previously supported the constitutional right of Congress to enact the measure. Two current lawsuits challenging the 1996 law as unconstitutional forced President Obama and his legal team to revise their position, concluding that gay people qualify for the greater protection afforded to a handful of categories, like gender or race.