[The U.S. Treasury Department’s single-week Treasury debt auction hits a record of $839 billion] November 5th: The U.S. government borrowed a record $839 billion this week by issuing Treasury bills and Treasury bonds. The funds obtained were used both to repay maturing debt and to raise additional funds needed to finance the federal fiscal deficit. The total issuance of Treasury bills, floating-rate bonds, and 2-, 5-, and 7-year Treasury bonds this week exceeded the record of $795 billion set during the same period last year. The $839 billion was the combined size of 11 Treasury auctions, most of which was used to repay holders of maturing Treasury bills. The actual new borrowing by the U.S. government was only $68 billion, far from reaching record levels. Records of new borrowing occurred in March and April 2020, when Treasury auctions surged in order to raise funds needed to respond to the epidemic, and weekly net new financing once peaked at nearly $350 billion. The weekly total of Treasury debt issuance fluctuates widely, depending mainly on how much debt comes due that week. This week's record issuance total underscores the need for the U.S. government to conduct ever-larger Treasury auctions as accumulated debt continues to grow and financing costs continue to rise.