Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., addresses a rally of conservatives who flocked to Capitol Hill Wednesday to press their legislative agenda.

WASHINGTON — James Edwards stood tall with more than 200 other conservatives in stiff, face-numbing wind outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, putting the heat on the Republican majority Congress to keep its promises like repealing Obamacare.

“We’re here to light a fire under them,” said Edwards, a resident of Capron, Virginia, sporting a red “Storm Congress” baseball cap.

The mid-day gathering in sub-freezing weather was organized by the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks, conservative political groups who want prompt repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a smaller federal government.

Edwards gave high marks to President Donald Trump for embracing efforts to repeal the health care law, cracking down on illegal immigrants and reducing regulations.

But Edwards and other demonstrators said they feel congressional Republicans have let them down by not moving more aggressively on a conservative approach to health care reform and other issues.

Conservatives said they are angry that the House GOP leadership’s replacement plan includes federal tax credits for lower and middle income earners as well as other tradeoffs such as retaining the costly provision to cover pre-existing medical conditions.

Conservatives also object to continued funding of Medicaid expansion to the 31 states that joined the program to provide health care to an additional 11 million low-income adults, a benefit the GOP legislation phases out in 2020.

The replacement plan has also drawn opposition from moderate Republicans in light of the Congressional Budget Office estimate this week it would cause 24 million Americans to lose health coverage over the next decade, including 14 million next year.

While the White House has challenged the uninsured projections, it has indicated a willingness to work with Republican leaders to make changes in order to muster enough votes to get it through both the House and Senate and onto Trump’s desk for signature.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said earlier this week Trump will engage with lawmakers “who want to be constructive” to make health care more affordable and the insurance market more competitive.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he’s willing to “make some modifications” but he also wants to avoid a prolonged legislative fight over the GOP plan that could end up with nothing getting done.

Changes to placate House conservatives – such as eliminating Medicaid expansion – would impair the plan’s chances of passing the Senate, where moderate Republicans like West Virginia’s Shelley Mooore Capito have raised concerns about health care for lower income residents.

Tea Party co-founder Mark Meckler said in an interview that two-thirds of the 40,000 Tea Party activists he surveyed this month gave Trump an “A” for his first two months in office, reflecting a change from many who had viewed him suspiciously earlier.

Meckler said Congress received only a “C.” He said conservatives have been burned before by Republican lawmakers and they aren’t willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sylvia Smith of Littletown New Hampshire, who participated in the Capitol Hill rally, said she’s tired of waiting for Republicans to make good on their promise to get rid of Obamacare.

Smith said the Republicans excuse early in Obama’s administration was they didn’t have control of the Senate. When they got that, the complaint shifted to a need to control the White House.

“Now we have all three,” she said. “And they still haven’t done anything.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who spoke to the crowd, said Republicans control of both Congress and the presidency puts repeal of Obamacare in sight. “If Republicans take this opportunity and blow it, we will rightfully be called a laughingstock,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., implored the gathering not to accept a compromise that is less than outright repeal of Obamacare and a conservative replacement law.

“They’re going to give us Obamacare lite?” Paul said of the present GOP plan. “Do we want to keep some of Obamacare?”

“No,” responded the crowd.

Kery Murakami is CNHI’s Washington reporter. Contact him at kmurakami@cnhi.com.