U.S. President Barack Obama will establish a presidential commission by executive order to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, administration officials said Monday.

The commission will be similar to panels created to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and no current government employee or elected official will be eligible to serve on the commission, according to reports.

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean and leased by BP, sank April 22 some 52 km off Venice, Louisiana, after burning for roughly 36 hours. The untapped wellhead continues gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.