1) Expect White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to return to the Capitol today in the early afternoon to discuss the next coronavirus bill with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The duo will not talk to Senate Republicans at lunch.

2) Even though the sides are far apart, the new focus on Pelosi and Democrats tells you that these talks are real. The WH & McConnell need Democratic votes as most Republicans remain at loggerheads over the coronavirus plans.

3) Both sides are feeling pressure to negotiate and solve this as soon as possible. There would not be talks, or at least serious ones, focused on the Democrats, if posturing is all that was going on.

4) Fox is told there is very little chance the sides can advance a bill by the end of the week. That’s when additional unemployment insurance expires. But missing the Friday deadline would likely amplify pressure to forge an accord on the next phase sometime soon.

5) The sides are expected to take the Senate Republican proposals and see where they can whittle away various obstacles, hoping to find common ground. Fox is told they will begin with the easy parts.

6) But the more complicated sections, dealing with unemployment insurance and funding for state and local governments, is the most nettlesome.

7) Administration and Congressional sources indicate the only thing which might be able to pass is a “skinny” version, costing in the neighborhood of $1.5 to $1.7 trillion. Granted, that is still $1.3 trillion short of what House Democrats passed in their phase five bill in May.

8) Pelosi will have to secure some big wins to marshal support for a less expensive bill.

We are told to expect these talks to spill into August, without immediate resolution.