Attorney general vote delayed a week

updated 4:12 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2009

WASHINGTON - Eric Holder's bid to become the nation's first African-American attorney general has been delayed a week.

Senate Republicans are demanding more time to question the nominee on a variety of topics. Among them is whether U.S. intelligence agents could be prosecuted for the harsh interrogations of terror suspects and what is the status of trials for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sought a vote Wednesday to send the nomination to the full Senate, but GOP members invoked a rule that grants an automatic, weeklong postponement.

The Guantanamo Bay war crimes court was halted Wednesday after President Barack Obama's said he wanted to review U.S. strategy for prosecuting terrorists.

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