The bruising battle over the Iran nuclear agreement should be over, now that 42 Democratic senators declared their support for the deal and made it clearer than ever that efforts to kill it will fail. But the Republican-led Congress seems determined to drag out the fight, even if it means neglecting other business, including legislation to fund the government.

Of course, the Republicans don’t much care about governing or putting in place the protections needed to make sure the nuclear agreement, reached in July between Iran and six major powers, is carefully and strongly enforced. This would include providing full funding for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will play a crucial role in inspecting and monitoring compliance with the pact.

Instead, the Republicans, who unanimously oppose the agreement, on Wednesday signaled their intent to keep fighting, at least until Sept. 17, the deadline for action set by Congress when it passed legislation in May giving it a say in approving or disapproving the accord. If lawmakers do nothing by next Thursday, the deal goes into effect.

The debate has been vitriolic and raw, with opponents waging a multimillion-dollar campaign that relied heavily on distortions and made supporters of the strong and worthy deal out to be anti-Israel or worse.