WASHINGTON — Flailing and divided, congressional Republicans are hoping for clarity from President Donald Trump on key issues like health care when he delivers his first speech to a joint meeting of Congress. It comes as Republicans are discovering, a month into Trump’s administration, how difficult it will be to make good on their many promises now that they control Washington in full.

The GOP’s long-stated plans to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with something better are running into major difficulties even before legislation is officially released. After a week of raucous town hall meetings, Republicans are back in Washington and key conservatives have begun to denounce House leadership plans based on a leaked draft and reports that the bill would cost more than expected while covering fewer people than the Affordable Care Act.

“That dog doesn’t hunt,” GOP Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, declared flatly of a central element of the plan, tax credits extended regardless of income.

Asked whether Republicans were nearing consensus on the overall legislation, Meadows said: “I think we’re a long way from that.”

Another influential conservative, GOP Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, released a statement warning that “There are serious problems with what appears to be our current path to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

And three key conservative senators, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, added their voices in opposition, too, announcing that they will oppose “Obamacare Lite” and “accept nothing less than full repeal of Obamacare.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan downplayed the divisions, insisting in an interview Tuesday that Congress is on track with a plan that will lower costs and improve quality. Ryan says the nation doesn’t need Trump to come up with all the specifics.

“I see him as more of a chairman, as a president, much like many successful presidents have been, where he gets people around him who are detailed people who can execute those plans,” Ryan told NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday.