A Senate panel has voted to extend a controversial provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that is set to expire at the end of the year. The Obama administration has sought to renew its expanded authority to monitor phone calls and emails inside the United States if one person involved is abroad and the targets are foreigners believed to be outside the country. The vote by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence comes shortly after news the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a group of activists, journalists and lawyers represented by the American Civil Liberties Union have the legal right to challenge the U.S. government’s surveillance practices, which they say could pick up their communications with clients and sources overseas.