1) The Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle serves as an instructive point on Capitol Hill.

2) The main point in the story is that a watchdog didn’t bark in the middle of the night when a horse was stolen from a barn. The key to the story was that dogs that bark…are just as important as dogs which DON’T bark.

3) And such is the case today on Capitol Hill with the next coronavirus bill. We have the dog that didn’t bark. As it turns out, this is as instructive as a dog which would bark about the next coronavirus package.

4) When things are hunky-dory on Capitol Hill, there is chatter. There is buzz. Sources call back. They text. They email. They drop things in over the transom, unsolicited

But this morning, crickets.

5) When things are bad or lawmakers, aides and other policymakers find themselves at a BAD impasse, things fall silent.

6) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was angling to roll out a general framework of the next coronavirus bill today. That didn’t happen. There was (kind of) an agreement last night on the appropriations portion of the bill. That’s the easy part.

7) McConnell was circumspect today. For the second morning in a row, McConnell did not speak about the coronavirus bill on the floor. He did not address it in the hallway. And so, Republicans are fighting with themselves

8) This does not portend well for getting a pact together by next week. McConnell said weeks ago that he would write the bill and shut out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the time being. But in the end, this measure will need massive Democratic support to pass.