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.

• The Defense Department is not prepared to move hundreds of thousands of feds to the General Schedule by the end of the year, according a new government accountability office report. In it, GAO says Defense does not have the details in place to finish moving 226,000 civilian employees from the merit-based National Security Personnel System to the General Schedule. GAO says Defense has no documented goals or a timeline for designing the new system. The deadline to transition all employees is Jan. 1, 2012.
• Tornadoes that damaged large areas of the South also hammered federal facilities. NextGov reports affected agencies include the Marshall Space Flight Center, Army Materiel Command and the Missile Defense Agency. All are in the Huntsville, Alabama area. Communications systems and electricity were largely knocked out. Marshall has been supporting the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida as it prepares for the Endeavor launch. A spokesman for the Missile Command’s Redstone Arsenal said that facility would be closed at least through today. A Redstone spokesman said officials were relying on local broadcast reports for information. NASA officials weren’t certain when Marshall would reopen.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials say they’re monitoring Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. The Athens, Alabama facility lost electricity after a string of deadly tornadoes tore through the south. Gov Exec reports the NRC’s senior resident inspector was in the control room when the plant lost power. Besides federal facilities which also lost power, several contractors including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman halted operations, according to local television reports.
• The government is releasing its first inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. The White House says agencies put out more than 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010. That’s 2.5 million tons less than the 2008 baseline. The inventory is part of the administration’s initiative to cut direct emissions by 28 percent over the next nine years.
• The government is pressuring food companies to cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children. The voluntary guidelines would phase out advertisements on TV, in stores, and online. Companies are urged to market foods to children ages 2 through 17, but only if those foods are low in fats, sugars, and sodium and contain healthy ingredients. In 2009, Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission, Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form a working group and develop the recommendations.
• VSE Corporation is reporting lower revenues, and the contractor is blaming the government. The engineering and construction contractor says the drop in revenue happened because their contract with the Army ended in January. The Washington Business Journal reports VSE had first-quarter revenue of a little more than $151 million, down nearly 34 percent from a year earlier. VSE says that the problem is a decrease in government funding activity.

More news links

FBI warns U.S. businesses of new Chinese cybercrime scheme (CNN)

NRC chief questions blackout plans for US plants

WikiLeaks suspect to be housed with other inmates

Portrait Gallery opens 1st of 7 Civil War exhibits

Former Miss USA says she felt “violated” by TSA agent (AFP)

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