The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

• When Congress returns next month, finding $1.5 trillion in new deficit cuts won’t be the only thing on the table. A balanced budget amendment will also be brought to the floor. House GOP leaders held off scheduling a vote before because they were short of the two-thirds margin required to pass the amendment. But both House and Senate are required to hold votes this fall as a condition of the legislation to raise the government’s borrowing cap. Proponents say a balanced budget amendment will control government spending. Democrats wont support stricter versions of the bill which make it harder to pass any future taxes. (Federal News Radio)
• No decisions have been made yet. But Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said if any changes come to the military retirement system, they won’t impact current service members. The Defense Business Board’s draft proposal would replace the current military retirement system with a 401-K-style plan. Veterans would also have to wait until normal retirement age to collect. The plan saves $250 billion over 20 years. It would require Congressional approval. While Panetta said he will not break faith with the current members of the service and retirees, that doesn’t mean changes won’t come later, for future service members. The Pentagon has said it is looking into the proposal. (Defense Department)
• Feds are helping rural America get better access to broadband. Telecommunications companies in 16 states will share more than $103 million in federal dollars to help expand broadband Internet access to underserved areas. The Agriculture Department, along with public interest groups, telecom companies and policymakers, hope to bridge the digital divide by providing broadband to the most remote pockets of the U.S. Jonathan Adelstein, USDA’s rural utilities service administrator, said part of the challenge is creating a future for young people growing up in those rural communities. He said many feel there’s no reason for them to stay if there’s no access to broadband Internet services. (Federal News Radio)
• The push for cloud computing is getting some pushback, The New York Times reports. Not all federal managers are sold on the idea of cloud computing, and some see the cloud as being one way to provide more business to large contractors, such as Amazon, Google and Lockheed Martin. However, the biggest concern is security. In July, the Pentagon said it had suffered its largest breach, in which hackers obtained 24,000 confidential files. Even so, the International Data Corporation estimated that overall spending on cloud computing is growing five times as fast as it is for traditional corporate technologies. (The New York Times)
• Agencies need to do more to improve “high-quality” participation in their open government initiatives, according to a Federal Times report. And the IBM Center for The Business of Government has some ideas. The report finds that while agencies are tracking public input, like online comments, they are not measuring whether those inputs impact policy decisions. Among the 20 recommendations in the report are setting clear goals for public outreach and empowering employees to experiment with new platforms and outreach strategies. (Federal Times)
• The Veterans Affairs Department has continuously prescribed ineffective medication for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to Nextgov. A report by VA researchers on risperidone concluded the medication was no more effective than a placebo in reducing PTSD symptoms. The FDA also has not approved the drug for use in PTSD treatment. In the last decade VA spent $717 million on more than 5 million prescriptions for the drug. The report by VA researchers was published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Nextgov)
• A National Institutes of Health employee pled guilty to using government credit cards for personal use. The Justice Department said Jihan Cover, a purchasing agent at the National Cancer Institute, used her government-issued cards to make more than 250 purchases including toys, books and clothes she bought on Amazon. She then had them delivered to her home. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250-thousand dollar fine. (Justice Department)

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