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 Joint Chiefs of Staff made their own protest on Capitol Hill Thursday. All six members told the Senate Armed Services Committee not to add the head of the National Guard Bureau to the joint chiefs. The chiefs took pains to praise the Guard. But they all said Guard interests are already represented. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the integration of Guard and regular forces would be undermined if the Guard had a separate voice at the table. Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, argued that informal representation should be institutionalized. Legislation to add the Guard to the Joint Chiefs has already passed the House and is likely to pass the Senate, despite the protest. (Federal News Radio)
• A new bill would ban smoking within 25 feet of a federal building, GovExec reported. Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) said the government is not doing enough to enforce its own policy. Smoking in federal facilities was first banned by a Clinton administration executive order. Subsequent policy from GSA eliminated designated smoking areas. GovExec reported that current policy is not enforced in leased buildings not administered by the GSA. The Davis legislation would close that loophole. (Government Executive)
• A unified Senate passed a bill giving tax credits to companies that hire veterans. The bill also repeals the requirement that agencies withhold for taxes, 3 percent of contractor payments. Companies hiring disabled veterans with long-term unemployment would receive tax credits of $9,600 per hire. The bill, which passed unanimously, goes to the House next week. The House is expected to pass it and send it the president for his signature. (Federal News Radio)
• Occupy D.C. turned into Occupy the EPA yesterday. Several dozen protesters stood below EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s office window. They demanded more whistleblower protection and stronger clean air enforcement. Protesters placed paper crosses and wreaths on the lawn. The Occupy D.C. members were joined by marchers from the National Whistleblower Center, the No Fear Coalition and the Federal alliance for Workplace Accountability. (Federal News Radio)
• Eighty-three victims and family members of the Fort Hood shootings are suing the Army for $750 million. The plaintiffs say the Army was negligent in not getting rid of Maj. Nidal Hasan before he was able to open fire. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 in 2009. His military trial is scheduled to start in March. Hasan is an American-born Muslim who prosecutors say turned radical while serving. If convicted, he faces the death penalty. (Federal News Radio)
• The National Park Service is waiving admission fees at parks across the country in honor of Veterans Day, the Associated Press reported. Free admission begins today and runs through the weekend. Virginia’s sites include Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield, the site of General Cornwallis’ surrender during the American Revolution. Colonial Williamsburg also is offering free admission to military members and their families. (Associated Press)
• U.S. military officials are celebrating the opening of the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, the Associated Press reported. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta presided over a dedication ceremony yesterday. He called the center “a 21st-century place of miracles.” The hospital is a merger of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. The merger is a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act. The new facility is staffed by Army, Navy and Air Force members. (Associated Press)
• President Obama is taking part in Veterans Day observances in Washington and San Diego before heading to Hawaii for an Asia-Pacific summit, the Associated Press reported. The president is hosting a veterans breakfast at the White House this morning. Then he travels to Arlington National Cemetery where he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns before speaking at a Veterans Day ceremony. Soon after, Obama flies to California to take part in the first-ever Carrier Classic, basketball game between Michigan State and No. 1 North Carolina aboard the USS Carl Vinson. The Veterans Day observances come a day after the Senate approved Obama’s call for a tax credit for those who hire jobless veterans. (Associated Press)
• The Government Accountability Office says that the IRS’s financial statements for 2010 and 2011 are looking pretty good. But, GAO auditors say the IRS needs some serious internal control and financial management systems so it can stay on track. One of the main problems is that IRS continues to use an old system that doesn’t meet Federal Financial Management Improvement Act standards. GAO audits the financial statements of the IRS every year. It has advised the IRS in the past to make sure it has internal controls nailed down … but those issues continue to crop up. The IRS says it’ll keep working on it. (Government Accountability Office)

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