Treasury Department signaled willingness to intervene after yields hit nearly two‑decade highs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the agency would significantly step up purchases of government bonds as part of its existing buyback program. Markets responded quickly, with stocks rising and Treasury yields falling sharply.

"I’ve been saying ‘bond traders can stop panicking when the Fed starts panicking.’ I guess I should have said, ‘bond traders can stop panicking when Scott Bessent starts panicking,’" Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research, posted on X shortly after the announcement. A former hedge‑fund manager who once specialized in analyzing geopolitical situations and economic data to make big‑picture market bets, Bessent has cultivated the image of an unusually market‑savvy Treasury secretary—not afraid to intervene in currency markets or cite market conditions when discussing how the government should conduct its borrowing. Calling himself the “nation’s top bond salesman,” Bessent has talked openly about wanting to push down bond yields to lower mortgage rates and other borrowing costs.

But that hasn’t gone according to plan, putting pressure on the Trump administration ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Treasury yields, which set a floor on interest rates across the economy, have been steadily rising in recent months, with the yield on the 30‑year bond topping 5.3% this week—its highest level in nearly two decades. Average mortgage rates have been creeping back up toward 7%, while the budget deficit has hovered near 6% of the country’s GDP—well above Bessent’s longer‑term 3% target.