Treasury Sets $125 Billion November Refunding, Holding Auction Sizes Steady

The US Treasury will sell $125 billion of government securities in its November refunding, the department announced on Wednesday, holding auction sizes steady for another quarter even as the federal government's borrowing needs remain enormous. The Treasury refunding package refinances about $97 billion of privately held notes and bonds maturing on November 15, 2026, and raises roughly $28 billion in new cash. The decision, announced by Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Hunter McMaster, keeps the auction calendar unchanged from August.

Key Points

• The Treasury will offer $125 billion: a $58 billion 3-year note, a $42 billion 10-year note and a $25 billion 30-year bond.
• Auctions take place on November 9, 10 and 12 and settle on Monday, November 16, 2026.
• About $97 billion refinances debt maturing on November 15; about $28 billion is new cash.
• Auction sizes are unchanged, and the Treasury expects to keep them steady for the next several quarters.
• The 7-year note switches to quarterly new issues from March 2027, with up to $95 billion in buybacks this quarter.

What Happened

The Treasury published its quarterly refunding statement on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, setting out borrowing plans for the November 2026 to January 2027 quarter. The 3-year note, worth $58 billion and maturing on November 15, 2029, will be auctioned at 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, November 9. The 10-year note, worth $42 billion and maturing on November 15, 2036, follows at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10. The 30-year bond, worth $25 billion and maturing on November 15, 2056, will be auctioned at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 12. All three auctions take place on a yield basis and settle on Monday, November 16.

The rest of the quarter's financing stays on its current path. The Treasury will maintain auction sizes for inflation-protected securities and set a tentative buyback schedule: up to $70 billion of older securities for liquidity support and up to $25 billion of short-dated securities for cash management.

Background: Why the Refunding Matters

The quarterly refunding is the Treasury's main tool for managing the federal debt, watched closely by bond investors, banks and the Federal Reserve because it sets the supply of the world's most important safe asset. Every three months the Treasury announces how much it will borrow, in which maturities and whether auction sizes will rise, fall or stay the same. The November announcement comes at a sensitive moment: a bond sell-off in October pushed long-term yields to multi-decade highs, the national debt has climbed above $40 trillion, and the annual deficit runs near 6 percent of gross domestic product, about $2 trillion a year. On November 2, the Treasury estimated privately held net marketable borrowing of $618 billion for October to December and $800 billion for January to March 2027.

Treasury Refunding: What the $125 Billion Package Means

The most important signal is what the Treasury did not do. By holding auction sizes steady and dropping the phrase "at least" from its guidance, the department softened its earlier hint that sizes would stay put for a minimum period, saying instead that it "anticipates maintaining nominal coupon and FRN auction sizes for the next several quarters." The wording suggests officials are comfortable with the current issuance profile and see no need to test the market with larger auctions while yields are already elevated.

The statement also showed the Treasury thinking about the shape of its debt. The 7-year note, now issued as a new security every month, will become a quarterly new issue with two reopenings, in the same pattern as the 10-year note. New 7-year issues will be auctioned in March, June, September and December, starting in March 2027. The cash picture is striking, too: the Treasury assumes an $850 billion cash balance at the end of December, but estimates the Treasury General Account could peak at $1.025 trillion, plus or minus $50 billion, in late November and again in late January.

Reactions and Quotes

Assistant Secretary McMaster, in the official statement, said the Treasury "believes its current auction sizes leave it well positioned to address potential changes to the fiscal outlook and to the size and composition of the SOMA portfolio," referring to the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities. He added that, based on current projected borrowing needs, the Treasury "anticipates maintaining nominal coupon and FRN auction sizes for the next several quarters."

Market reaction was muted, a sign the announcement matched expectations. With no surprise in the announcement, attention stayed on the post-election stock rally and the sharp fall in oil, where Brent settled down 8.7 percent at $94.62 a barrel on Wednesday. For more, see our report on the Dow's record post-midterm rally and Brent crude falling below $100.

Why It Matters

The refunding matters because the Treasury is the largest borrower in the world, and the terms on which it borrows ripple through every corner of American finance. When the government sells $125 billion of new debt in a single week, it absorbs a large share of investors' cash, and the yields it must offer help set the price of mortgages, car loans and corporate bonds. Holding auction sizes steady avoids adding fresh supply pressure while long-term yields are already at multi-decade highs. It also matters for the federal budget: with the national debt above $40 trillion and interest costs rising, every fraction of a percentage point on Treasury yields means billions of dollars a year in extra interest payments.

What Happens Next

The three refunding auctions take place next week: the 3-year note on Monday, November 9, the 10-year note on Tuesday, November 10, and the 30-year bond on Thursday, November 12, all settling on Monday, November 16. The next quarterly refunding announcement is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Treasury refunding? The quarterly announcement in which the US Treasury sets out how much government debt it will sell to refinance maturing bonds and raise new cash.

How much is the Treasury borrowing in November? The refunding totals $125 billion: a $58 billion 3-year note, a $42 billion 10-year note and a $25 billion 30-year bond. About $97 billion refinances debt maturing on November 15, and about $28 billion is new cash.

Are auction sizes going up? No. The Treasury held nominal coupon and floating-rate-note auction sizes steady, as in August, and expects to maintain them for the next several quarters.

When are the auctions? The 3-year note is auctioned on Monday, November 9, the 10-year note on Tuesday, November 10, and the 30-year bond on Thursday, November 12, 2026. All three settle on Monday, November 16.

What changed for the 7-year note? From March 2027 it will be issued as a new security only once a quarter, in March, June, September and December, with reopenings in the following two months, instead of a new issue every month.

For more on the forces shaping US borrowing costs, see our report on investors' worries about the deteriorating US fiscal outlook.