First on CNN: New book reveals how Biden’s inner circle kept Cabinet from him in final two years of presidency

Some members of Joe Biden’s Cabinet didn’t believe he could be relied upon to perform at 2 a.m. during an emergency by the final year of his presidency, according to a new book.

Some members of former President Joe Biden’s Cabinet did not believe that he could be relied upon to perform at 2 a.m. during an emergency by the final year of his presidency, according to a new book from CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. Several secretaries told the authors that Biden’s inner circle grew so small in 2023 and 2024 that even members of his Cabinet weren’t included. “Access dropped off considerably in 2024, and I didn’t interact with him as much,” said one Cabinet secretary, who explained that instead of briefing Biden, the secretary would brief other senior White House aides, who then briefed the president. The Cabinet member thought it was strange and wondered if it was a way of filtering out particular information and directing Biden’s decision-making, according to the book. “Yes, the president is ‘making the decisions,’ but if the inner circle is shaping them in such a way, is it really a decision? Are they leading him to something?” the Cabinet secretary wondered. The new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” is being released on May 20. The book documents how Biden, his closest aides and his family forged ahead with the former president’s doomed 2024 reelection bid despite signs of his physical and mental decline.