Quick Hits

*** The Thrift Retirement Investment Board saw a 372% year-over-year spike in in-service withdrawals from qualified federal employees from Thrift Savings Plan funds in September 2019, thanks to new withdrawal options, project manager Tanner Nohe said at an Oct. 28 board meeting. Partial withdrawals are up among retirees while fewer are emptying accounts, also thanks to new rules.

*** The General Services Administration is looking to make it easier for agencies to buy human-centered design and customer experience services. In a new request for information, GSA wants industry to share how these services can be added to existing contract vehicles and how to best code and characterize relevant experience in HCD and CX.

*** The Federal Communications Commission will take up a rule designed to get Huawei and ZTE gear out of U.S. telecom infrastructure through control of certain federal subsidies.

"The FCC has a part to play in combatting this risk by ensuring that its $8.5 billion Universal Service Fund does not underwrite national security threats," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement introducing the proposed rule.