Here’s a roundup of this morning’s must-read budget and economic stories:

Another GSA scandal: The Associated Press, The Hill, Politico and Roll Call report the agency spent $270,000 on a one-day awards ceremony.

The House yesterday passed the FY 2013 defense spending bill. Bloomberg and Politico have the details.

Politico says the Senate Democratic Caucus is dropping its plan to tax wealthy estates. Meanwhile, The Hill says Senate Democrats are also “growing cool” to the idea of extending the payroll tax cut for another year.