Pelosi Warns GOP Will Cut Social Security in Last-Minute Message to Voters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is warning voters as they head to the polls that House Republicans will use an impending vote on the debt ceiling as leverage to cut Social Security and Medicare.

The California Democrat made the remarks Tuesday evening in an interview with PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff. Pelosi pointed to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy's recent remarks that he'd resist a vote on raising the legal limit on how much debt the federal government can take on to force spending cuts. As voting is underway in midterm elections that'll determine whether the speaker keeps her gavel, Pelosi told voters they have reason to worry if Republicans prevail.

McCarthy, who would likely become speaker if Republicans secure a majority in the House, said in an interview with Punchbowl News last month, "You can't just continue down the path to keep spending and adding to the debt." He said Congress would need to "eliminate some waste" before signing off on raising the debt ceiling, adding that he wouldn't "predetermine" anything, including changes to Social Security and Medicare.

"What it says to us [is] that one place that they are targeting is Social Security," said Pelosi when asked about McCarthy's remarks. "They're saying, 'We're going to put Social Security, Medicare out there, and we're going to use the debt ceiling as our leverage.'"

Pelosi said that Democrats would support the popular federal programs that provide income support and medical insurance to seniors, calling them "insurance programs that people had paid into."

"The American people have to know that that is at stake in this election," added Pelosi.

The U.S. is expected to hit its current debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion sometime early next year, which will trigger a showdown in Congress.

The debt ceiling is the legal limit on how much the federal government can borrow to meet spending previously approved by Congress. Not raising the ceiling would cause the U.S. government to default on its debt obligations, which most economists say would be catastrophic to the economy.

Despite the high stakes, raising the debt ceiling has become fraught, with some Republicans seeking to use the vote to extract concessions on spending. The U.S. came within days of defaulting on its debt in the summer of 2011 during a stand-off between then-President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans. While a default was averted, the S&P Global Ratings downgraded the U.S. debt from its AAA rating, causing losses in long-term Treasury yields and equities.

The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative House GOP members, in June released a budget plan that proposed a number of reforms to Medicare and Social Security, including raising the eligibility ages for each program to 67 and 70, respectively.

As the economy remains a top concern of voters and the midterm races have tightened, Democrats have accused Republican candidates of seeking to undermine Social Security and Medicare.

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise pushed back on charges from Democrats that the plan aims to slash the programs, saying during a Fox News appearance last month that the reforms would make them more fiscally viable.

"We have proposed strengthening and shoring up Medicare and Social Security," he said.

When asked by PBS' Woodruff how Democrats would stop cuts to the programs, Pelosi replied, "We intend to win."

Newsweek has reached out to McCarthy's office for comment.