The government has statutory deadlines to pass budgets and debt ceiling increases but has voted to extend those so often the deadlines have become something of an embarrassing joke. Then, the deadline became not just Biden's but that of the Taliban, which took on the role of brutal new landlords, declaring that the Americans had until the end of the month to get out of the country. But since the United States is relying on the Taliban to help ensure safe passage to the airport for Americans and vulnerable Afghans, it puts more pressure on the Biden administration to stick to a deadline that appears harder and harder to meet.