U.S. STOCK INDEX FUTURES PARE SOME LOSSES; S&P 500 E-MINIS, DOW FUTURES DOWN 0.1%, NASDAQ FUTURES DOWN 0.4%
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) August 24, 2026
Up because of reports Bessent may use the TSA
— Loren Boston THE FIAT WORLD IS WORRIED (@LorenBoston) August 24, 2026
Scott Bessent has apparently discovered a pot of nearly a trillion dollars sitting in the Treasury General Account and decided the clever thing to do is spend it buying back America’s own bonds. Which is a bit like finding your emergency savings and using them to bid up the price… pic.twitter.com/NHsk4RC8z2
— Gandalv (@Microinteracti1) August 24, 2026
The Treasury could use its near $1 trillion General Account to help fund its recently announced plans to increase purchases of government bonds, according to two senior Treasury officials.
Using the TGA would provide the Treasury with considerable firepower to influence long-term bond yields. The Treasury surprised markets last week with an announcement that it would be doubling the size of buybacks of off-the-run securities on the long end from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC such operations could be even larger than the new higher minimum.
However, the Treasury made no mention of how it would fund the purchases. Most market participants assumed it would do so by selling short-term bills. The senior Treasury officials did not rule that out. Bessent in the CNBC interview called the operation a “Treasury Twist,” a reference to a government or Federal Reserve operation where long-term Treasurys are bought and paid for with short-term issuance. That also implied that short-term bonds would be sold.
But since the surprise announcement, bonds have retreated from an initial rally, sending yields higher, in part because of skepticism voiced by many market analysts about how effective the operation would be and whether the Treasury’s resources were too limited.
Using the TGA could change that perception. The TGA is essentially the government’s checking account, a rainy day fund of sorts held at the Federal Reserve. It is already funded with existing tax collections. Bessent has built up the TGA to around $950 billion currently, compared with a stated goal under the Biden administration of around $550 billion to $600 billion.
The officials would not say how much, if any, of the TGA would be used or when such an announcement could be made. There was no implication it could be used beyond the purchase of off-the-run securities that were the focus of last week’s announcement.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/24/bessent-1-trillion-treasury-general-account-bond-buybacks.html
Treasury doubles debt buybacks as Bessent moves to steady bond market
The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will at least double the level of government debt buybacks in the next few months, targeting the sensitive longer-duration segment of the market.
Yields tumbled following the announcement and stock market futures surged.