Just within the past week alone, three top House Republicans — GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, GOP Whip Steve Scalise, and Republican Study Committee Chair Jim Banks — have doubled down on their plan to threaten a debt crisis over their extreme plan to cut Social Security and Medicare.

In new reporting, an economist from the conservative American Enterprise Institute said that if Republicans take control and start “playing games” with the debt ceiling — because they’re so hellbent on coming after Americans’ hard-earned Social Security benefits — it could have potentially disastrous consequences and run the U.S. economy into the ground.

Semafor: “Republican leaders are currently talking about using votes on the debt ceiling, which must be lifted next year, to secure major policy concessions. That renders the possibility of a standoff that frightens investors and spikes interest rates an increasingly plausible scenario.

‘If the Republicans begin playing games with the debt ceiling and it looks like the United States might default on its obligations, there’ll be a huge bond sell-off,’ Desmond Lachman, a macroeconomic expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said.”

In fact, the GOP plan to cut Social Security is so backwards that even Republican voters are calling it a “dealbreaker” and a complete “betrayal” to the American people.

Newsweek: “As soon as [Steve Scalise’s] interview began, [Fox News] host Shannon Bream… presented the lawmaker with a message from a concerned viewer, who characterized the GOP’s plan for Medicare as a potential ‘betrayal.’

‘He’s a Republican, he’s very worried about you cutting his Medicare,’ Bream said as she relayed the message she purported to have received on Twitter. ‘He says it’s a dealbreaker and a betrayal by the GOP.’”

Republicans have already come out and made clear that if they take control, they would make it one of their “top priorities” to make this extreme plan a reality.

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.”

Make no mistake: Republicans will stop at nothing to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits for millions of Americans — even if it means threatening to crash the economy. That’s the GOP’s real midterm agenda.