End is near for surveillance law powers

The Senate is racing toward a last-minute showdown over a controversial counterterrorism surveillance law. While the chamber is preoccupied with the fast-approaching fiscal cliff, the clock is also running out on the so-called FISA Amendments Act — provisions of which are scheduled to sunset at the end of the year.

The law has its skeptics, many of whom fear that Americans are getting swept up in what is supposed to be a surveillance statute aimed at foreign targets. Its leading critic, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), has tried to block Senate consideration of the measure as he seeks more information on how many U.S. citizens have been affected. But the chamber now faces a daunting task in addressing Wyden’s objections while processing a slew of proposed amendments to the extension, which the House approved without change earlier this year.