You have to wonder about any cause that unites Barack Obama and Michele Bachmann.

An amendment by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., that would have forced the National Security Agency to spy on specific targets rather than collect the phone records of every American failed to pass in the House by just 12 votes.

Members from both the left and the right united to support the amendment, but their votes were not enough to overcome the combined forces of the White House and the House Republican leadership, who haven’t really been able to agree on anything else.

A last-minute lobbying effort by NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander might have also helped push the administration’s side over the top.

Nevertheless, it was a close call, and only the first congressional challenge to the administration’s sweeping surveillance programs.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer