President Donald Trump will issue an executive order to establish an accountability and whistleblower protection office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Leo Shane III writes Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin told reporters the VA’s future Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection could help accelerate the termination of underperforming employees and reduce corporate staff across the department.

Shulkin added the office will review existing regulations on the dismissal of federal employees and recommend new legislation on VA employment rules.

VA also intends for the office to preserve whistleblower rights and investigate reports of retaliation, Shane reported.

The report said President Trump will also order the formation of a task force to examine any wasteful and fraudulent activities at VA, review its national footprint and examine if current department services are duplicative, according to the report.

NASA is planning a joint mission with the European Space Agency to study potential signs of life on Jupiter’s Europa moon, New Scientist reported Monday.

Andy Coghlan writes Michel Blanc, a scientist at France’s Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, said at the annual European Geosciences Union meeting that the Joint Europa Mission could be deployed in mid-2020s for a more than six-year expedition.

Blanc added an orbiter craft will deliver a lander on Europa’s surface to sample and screen material for biosignatures and the orbiter will subsequently take laser, magnetic and seismic measurements of Jupiter over a three-month period.

The orbiter would crash into Europa after gathering data on the composition of the moon’s atmosphere to identify potential life-related gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, Coghan reported.

NASA plans to design the lander and collaborate with ESA to build other mission components, according to Blanc.

President Donald Trump has appointed Randolph Alles, former acting deputy commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection and a retired Marine Corps major general, as director of the U.S. Secret Service, the White House announced Tuesday.

Alles performed duties of a chief operating officer during his tenure as CBP acting deputy commissioner and previously served as acting executive assistant commissioner of the agency’s enterprise services branch as well as deputy assistant commissioner of the air and marine operations group.

He has held various leadership positions at the Marine Corps and joint commands during his 35-year military career and gained experience in work areas such as aviation maintenance, flight training, logistics, quality assurance and standardization.

Alles holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from Naval War College.

The Government Accountability Office has called on the Federal Aviation Administration to implement initiatives to identify FAA’s long term research-and-development priorities and  comply with research-related statutory reporting requirements.

GAO said Monday it found that FAA does not fully meet requirements, guidance and leading practices on the management of the agency’s R&D portfolio.

FAA has yet to address all statutory reporting requirements such as the identification of long term research resources in the National Aviation Research Plan and the creation of the R&D Annual Review, GAO added.

The congressional watchdog noted FAA has begun to explore ways to improve the usefulness and timeliness of its R&D reports but the agency has yet to specify necessary changes.

GAO also found that FAA does not formally study the impact of its R&D activities on the private sector because FAA and the industry have varying research objectives.

Three private companies told GAO there is “little evidence” that FAA’s actions prevent private sector firms from launching their own R&D projects.

GAO recommended that the Transportation Department direct the FAA administrator to outline long term R&D priorities; disclose project selection methods; and validate that FAA’s NARP and R&D Annual Reviews meet statutory requirements for content.