Six months into Barack Obama's presidency, twin investigations may be on the horizon into Bush-era policies in the war on terror. Two senators including the head of the intelligence committee suggested Sunday that the prior administration broke the law by concealing a CIA counter-terrorism program from Congress. The assertion that Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the concealment came amid word that Attorney General Eric Holder is contemplating opening a criminal probe of possible CIA torture. A move to appoint a criminal prosecutor is certain to stir partisan bickering that could prove a distraction to Obama's efforts to push ambitious health care and energy reform. Obama has repeatedly expressed reluctance to probing alleged Bush-era abuses. He resisted an effort by congressional Democrats to establish a 'truth commission,' saying the U.S. should be 'looking forward and not backwards.' Regarding the 8-year-old counter-terrorism program, the Bush administration's failure to notify Congress 'is a big problem, because the law is very clear,' said Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat. Congress should investigate the secrecy because 'it could be illegal,' Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said. According to Feinstein, CIA director Leon Panetta told Congress late last month that Cheney ordered the program not be revealed to Congress. 'We were kept in the dark. That's something that should never, ever happen again,' said Feinstein. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he agreed with Feinstein that the CIA should keep Congress informed. However, Cornyn said the new disclosure 'looks to me suspiciously like an attempt to provide political cover' to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats. Pelosi has accused the CIA of lying to her in 2002 about its use of waterboarding, or simulated drowning. Feinstein and Cornyn spoke on 'Fox News Sunday.' Durbin appeared on ABC television's 'This Week.' 