Scott Bessent cannot save the bond market from Congress's $40 trillion national debt

The U.S. bond market’s slide has intensified after a sharp selloff pushed the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.7% and the 30-year toward 5.17%, its highest since before the Great Recession. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday that the Treasury would “at least” double long-term bond buybacks to slow the rout, but the impact proved fleeting—by Thursday morning the 30-year yield fell and then rebounded by roughly 10 basis points. The article attributes the pressure to a looming maturity wall: about one-third of the $32 trillion in publicly held debt is due within 12 months, with borrowing costs now 300–400 basis points higher than in 2020.