Biden's aides worried that his inner circle will shield him from bad news

Current advisers - and those no longer part of the Biden administration - are concerned that the president is insulated from bad news because of the bubble created by his inner circle, the Axios news agency reported, citing unnamed sources at the White House.

According to Axios, President Biden is apparently becoming increasingly insulated from criticism and disconnected from the real world, remaining "inaccessible" to skeptical congressional Democrats who want to raise questions about the president as the November elections approach.

The report indicates that former and current advisers are genuinely concerned that Biden is not getting updates on his delicate political situation within the party following his sluggish performance in the presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, and the post-debate polls.

"In the two weeks since Biden's disastrous debate, those concerns grew as many members of Congress found it difficult to communicate with Biden," Axios reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.

Aware of the situation, White House officials attempted to address concerns by reaching out more to Democratic lawmakers this Friday through Zoom meetings with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Asian-Pacific American Caucus. However, the efforts didn't work because of overly controlling hosts who voraciously restricted questions.

According to Axios sources, along with family members, three senior advisers make up Biden's inner circle controlling the most relevant "Policy" and "Politics" issues: Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed, a trident of advisers known internally as "the poobahs."

"The three are flush with the one currency that is most valued by Biden and his family members: loyalty. They are as close to family as staffers can get," reads Axios.

A person familiar with the West Wing power structure further commented to the outlet that the White House right now is run by Biden's family and staff considered part of the president's clan. This includes top aide to the first lady Anthony Bernal and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini.

Apparently, since the debate there are five aides who fall in this category: Anita Dunn, attorney Bob Bauer, and Jeff Zients and Ron Klain, Biden's former chief of staff.

In particular, Bernal is reportedly hoarding a great deal of power in the West Wing and is seen internally as the person in charge of gauging loyalty among staffers and the core close to the president.

This situation is causing something negative at the heart of the White House: that the president lives in isolation, without receiving the criticism or bad news of his current political position.

As reported by Axios, many employees fear being labeled disloyal in the eyes of the president, who as he ages, according to the sources cited, is more reluctant to receive questioning or bad news.

Indeed, many White House staffers doubt the abilities of Biden's top aides to organize and address the current internal party crisis that could lead to a Democratic rebellion against the president's candidacy with less than five months to go before the election.