Great Recession: U.S government spending on ARRA by department or agency 2009-2011

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed by the U.S. congress in February 2009, authorizing the federal government to spend up to 800 billion U.S. dollars on stimulating the economy. With the election of Barack Obama to the U.S. Presidency in November 2008, the priority of the policy response to the Great Recession and Global Financial Crisis shifted from aiming to backstop the financial system, to trying to stimulate economic growth through tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and improving public services. By 2011, around 500 billion had been disbursed to government departments or agencies, with the greatest beneficiaries being Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Education. The act was the signature economic policy initiative of the Obama administration and has been credited by some for preventing the recession from spiraling into a crisis of the magnitude of the Great Depression. The size of the stimulus package also galvanized opposition from Republicans, however, with the Tea Party movement arising to oppose the Obama administration's economic policies, while the Republicans retook control of congress in the 2010 midterm elections.

美国复苏与再投资法案（ARRA）于2009年2月由美国国会通过，授权联邦政府支出高达8000亿美元以刺激经济增长。随着巴拉克·奥巴马于2008年11月当选美国总统，针对大萧条和全球金融危机的政策响应优先级发生了转变，从旨在支持金融体系，转变为试图通过减税、基础设施支出和改善公共服务来刺激经济增长。至2011年，约5000亿美元已拨付至政府部门或机构，其中最大受益者包括卫生与公众服务部、财政部和教育部。该法案是奥巴马政府标志性经济政策倡议，有些人认为其有助于防止经济衰退演变成大萧条规模的经济危机。然而，刺激计划规模也引发了共和党的反对，茶党运动随之兴起，反对奥巴马政府的经济政策，而共和党在2010年中期选举中重新夺回了国会控制权。