Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), appearing on “Fox News Sunday,— said he is hopeful GOP Senators will stick together to oppose President Barack Obama’s budget, but said the public needs to bring pressure to bear on them to close ranks.

But Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, was skeptical. Speaking on the same program, Ryan predicted Senate Republicans will have to peel off a few conservative Democrats to mount an effective opposition.

“It’s going to be very difficult to stop this in the Senate,— he said.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who led the effort that kept House Republicans unanimously opposed to the $787 billion economic stimulus package, sidestepped questions about whether the House GOP would be similarly united against Obama’s spending blueprint on ABC’s “This Week.—

“As you know, this budget has to make its way through the House, and again, we want to work with this president,— he said.

The three Republicans assailed Obama’s plan for its size and scope, and they said it would hit taxpayers in ways the administration has not acknowledged, hindering economic recovery.

“I think it’s terrifying in the policy implications, as well as mind-boggling in the numbers,— Kyl said.

But White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel pushed back on the notion the plan contains hidden tax hikes, calling the Republican critiques “scare tactics,— on CBS’s “Face the Nation.—

Emanuel, a former House Member, said in proposing its alternative, the GOP would have to choose between protecting industry and the public policy goals Democrats are pursuing. “Will the Republicans meet the challenge of the future or keep us on the path that they have set for the past seven years that got us to this point of reckoning?— he asked.

Emanuel said he is confident lawmakers can meet the administration’s goal of wrapping work on the proposal in April.