WASHINGTON — A GOP-controlled House panel on Wednesday worked into the night on a Republican fiscal plan that probably won’t deliver on its promises to balance the budget, but would begin to clear a path for a GOP effort to overhaul the tax code this fall.

The plan proposes deep cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps and reprises a controversial Medicare plan strongly opposed by President Donald Trump — though Republicans plan to try to deliver on a small fraction of the cuts.

Instead, to most Republicans on Capitol Hill, the most important element of the plan is the procedural pathway it would clear to allow Republicans to pass their top priority — an overhaul of the tax code — later this year without fear of a blockade by Senate Democrats.

Passing a budget through Congress is the only way to get a GOP-only tax plan enacted this year.

Republicans argue that growing deficits and debt are part of the reason for slow economic growth and that big benefit plans like Medicare and Medicaid need changes now to keep them from going broke for future generations.

“Balancing the budget requires us to make tough choices, but the consequences of inaction far outweigh any political risks we may face,” said Budget Chairman Diane Black, R-Tenn.

But like the GOP’s health care repeal and replace efforts, the GOP budget outline faces opposition from both wings of the party. Republican conservatives want more of its proposed cuts to actually take effect in follow-up legislation, while moderates want to focus on tax reform instead of cuts to food stamps or federal employee pensions.