⁍ Senate Republicans remain skeptical of a possible deal costing trillions of dollars.

---

⁍ ‘I think we’re not going anywhere. A lot of talk, no action,’ Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby told reporters.

---

⁍ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the two sides were narrowing differences on how to attack the pandemic.

---

⁍ Pelosi said talks were also focused on aid to schools and on tax credits to help lower-income Americans hit hard by the pandemic.

---

– Nancy Pelosi says the White House is “really the most optimistic we’ve felt about getting a deal” on an H1N1 aid package. The top Democrat in Congress says negotiations on a $2 trillion package to fight the virus are underway with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “This is really the most optimistic we’ve felt about getting a deal,” White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah told Fox Business Network on Thursday, per Reuters. Pelosi says the two sides are narrowing differences on how to fight the pandemic and on aid to state and local governments, which have been hard-hit by the virus. She says talks are also focusing on aid to schools and on tax credits to help lower-income Americans hit hard by the pandemic, which has left millions jobless. “We have to have strong bipartisanship on the legislation that we come together on,” she says. “I would hope that we could have bipartisanship in the House and in the Senate.” (Pelosi has been among the most vocal about the H1N1 crisis.)