Kerry threw himself into the negotiations at Lausanne, staying past apparent deadlines and working in marathon sessions.
But since Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister and internal rifts over the UK's negotiating positions within her cabinet have become apparent, the deadline has continued to slip and politicians on the continent have begrudgingly accepted that they will have to wait for Britain to declare its position.
But their negotiations dragged on as the apparent 60-day deadline came and went on May 20, and they offered the measure only last week.
After it became apparent that the deadline could not be met, state officials pushed back the timetable for the printers to June 3, the date of the Congressional primary.
The team, led by Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Moggach, tripled in size as the scale of the work required became apparent, given the deadline of three weeks.
The tension, so evident last month in the tax fight over the fiscal deadline, is apparent again as Mr. Obama and a new Congress contend over the even more pressing need to increase the nation's debt limit next month.
There was no apparent movement as the deadline came and went.
For all the apparent disdain for the deadline, it would also be a setback for the Iranian negotiators if any agreement brokered in Vienna fell to pieces in Congress, in turn emboldening the deal's enemies in Iran.
Luongo didn't move anywhere before last week's trade deadline, despite his apparent hope that he would be.
The problems of writing a novel-length work to a newspaper deadline become more apparent, however, when the platitudes just aren't fresh enough.
The Manus Island police commander, Alex N'Drasal, threatened to arrest detention centre managers on Thursday if the men were not returned, but the deadline passed without any apparent action being taken.
