A new memoir claims that as President Biden's mental health deteriorated, a group of Biden administration insiders called the "politburo" served as the "ultimate decision-makers" in charge of the United States.

Jake Tapper's book, "Original Sin," states that President Joe Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and their troublesome son, Hunter, were overseen by three seasoned political figures who had known him for decades, as the New York Post reported.

Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reed were the main decision-makers, according to the book.

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain and senior adviser to the president Annie Tomasini were also "at times" part of the group.

From the book

"Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,' according to Tapper and Alex Thompson's source.

"In practice, Bruce Reed was the real domestic policy adviser, Mike Donilon was the actual political director, Steve Ricchetti controlled Legislative Affairs, and Klain controlled a bit of everything."

The book goes on to say that the group was allowed and often did make decisions without speaking to department heads, even keeping Biden at a distance from his cabinet members and aides.

An anonymous source told the authors, "I've never seen a situation like this before, with so few people having so much power. They would make huge economic decisions without calling [Treasury] Secretary Yellen."

The in's and out's

The term "politburo" is typically used to refer to the highest level of leadership in communist nations.

Biden had relied on Donilon as a close friend ever since the 1980s, and he had been an important counselor to Biden ever since the beginning of his presidency.

"The president valued Mike Donilon's advice so much that aides would later joke that if he wanted, he could get Biden to start a war," Thompson and Tapper wrote.

Another insider

In addition to having known Biden since the 1980s, Klain also had significant influence over Biden's policy decisions and important messages.

The book claims that it was Biden's aides who had overheard him boasting about Klain during the course of his career. It is said that he would add, "Only one person here is smarter than me, and it's Ron."

The book says that "Biden showed a particular deference to Klain even though his chief of staff was often more progressive. Biden had deep respect for Klain's intellect."