Less than one week after NRSC Chair Rick Scott said that he had no regrets about Republicans running on a midterm agenda to jeopardize Social Security and Medicare, extreme House Republicans came out today TRIPLING DOWN on their threat to hold our economy hostage to force cuts to these key programs.

That’s right: House Republicans are so hellbent on cutting programs like Social Security and Medicare that they are TRIPLING DOWN on their extreme threat that could tank the economy if they can’t get their way.

CNN: “In interviews with CNN, more than two dozen House GOP lawmakers laid out their demands to avoid the nation’s first-ever debt default, ranging from new immigration policies to imposing deep domestic spending cuts.”

CNN: “Rep. Jeff Duncan, a South Carolina Republican, wants to see cuts to both discretionary and mandatory spending, including entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.”

Republicans even went so far as to call funding for key programs like Social Security and Medicare “fat and garbage” that “we can cut.”

CNN: “‘Hell no,’ Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said when asked if he’d support a clean debt ceiling hike without slashing discretionary programs at federal agencies and mandatory spending, which includes entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.

‘There’s a lot of fat and garbage that’s way off the mission that we can cut, Roy said.”

This comes less than one week after NRSC Chair Rick Scott penned an op-ed defending his wildly unpopular midterm agenda to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block — saying that he doesn’t regret running on his extreme plan, not even “one bit.”

Washington Examiner: “Yes, I put out a plan of ideas, and I don’t regret it one bit. Yes, one of them suggested sunsetting laws after five years — noting that if a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again. Washington has spent decades exploding the size of our government and wasting money, and it must be stopped.”

And it’s not just Rick Scott: On the same day as Scott’s op-ed, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Thune said that Senate Republicans are so committed to forcing cuts to key programs like Social Security and Medicare, that they’re willing to crash the economy if they don’t get their way.

Bloomberg: “Senate Republicans want to leverage the next US debt limit increase to force cuts in projected federal spending and changes to Social Security and other entitlement programs, the party’s No. 2 leader said.”

None of this is new from the GOP: In September, top House Republican leaders promised they would make it one of their “top priorities” to force spending cuts if they took control.

Bloomberg Government: “Social Security and Medicare eligibility changes, spending caps, and safety-net work requirements are among the top priorities for key House Republicans who want to use next year’s debt-limit deadline to extract concessions from Democrats.”

Let’s be perfectly clear: Republicans are completely hellbent on coming after Social Security and Medicare. That’s the real GOP agenda.