Leahy confirms Congress will 'carefully' press forward with Fort Hood probe

Congress will hold hearings into shootings earlier this month at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Sunday.

Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he's likely to press forward with an investigation into the rampage, breaking with President Barack Obama's request that Congress hold off on any probe into the shootings.

"The fact of the matter is that there will be congressional investigations," Leahy said during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"I think we have to do it carefully in a way that we don't interfere with the prosecution," he added, "Obviously in Congress we have a reason for oversight."

Many lawmakers have been clamoring for an investigation into Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's alleged murder of 13 people at the Army base several weeks ago.

Republicans in particular have been critical of President Barack Obama and his administration for not having heeded some existing intelligence before the shooting suggesting Hasan was a security risk.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Obama said lawmakers should "resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater," and hold off on a congressional inquiry in order to let prosecutors do their job.

"The stakes are far too high," the president said.

Leahy suggested that the inquiry into the Ft. Hood shootings would begin, at least informally, as early as this week, when Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Judiciary committee.

"The attorney general will be before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday," Leahy said. "I fully expect that he'll be asked a number of questions about this."

"Ultimately we should know where mistakes were made...for the sole purpose of making sure those mistakes aren't made again," the senior Democrat added.