The U.S. Treasury is purchasing fewer longer-dated bonds than its expanded buyback capacity, accepting about half of the securities offered in recent operations and falling short of its $6 billion cap. The program lets bondholders propose specific securities and sale prices, while Treasury can reject offers it considers too expensive. Investors disagree over whether the smaller purchases show limited effectiveness or disciplined execution. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described the initiative as a technical measure to improve trading in older, less liquid government bonds. Analysts say the program may be working as a liquidity backstop, while the lower submission volume could indicate that difficult-to-trade bonds have already been removed from the market. The expansion on August 19, outside the usual quarterly refunding schedule, also fueled speculation that Treasury was seeking to limit rising yields. Long-term yields have continued climbing, but the swap spread (Treasury costs versus private lending rates) has narrowed, which ING’s Padhraic Garvey said is a better measure of the program’s effect.