Vice President Joe Biden appears to be finally creating some space between himself and the president, joining a growing list of administration officials who have publicly backed away from Obama, most conspicuously former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta.

Biden signaled his discontent last week with the president’s unceremonious treatment of Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel, Biden’s long-time Senate colleague. A State Department official told Politico that Biden was “ticked off” that Obama forced his friend to resign. The uncomfortable resignation announcement featured the “scowling visage” of Biden standing behind the president and Hagel.

Though Biden has been praised for his loyalty to Obama—despite repeated slights by the president over the last six years—it appears Biden’s had enough. Also at play, of course, is Biden’s potential 2016 run, which is taking hits with every downward tick of the president’s approval ratings.

As the Washington Times outlines, Biden is not the first high-profile administration official to abandon Obama. Both former Defense Secretaries Gates and Panetta openly criticized the president’s handling of foreign policy in their tell-all books, while Hillary Clinton is doing everything she can to distance herself from his major blunders, particularly his “Don’t do stupid stuff” philosophy and his too “passive” handling of the Middle East.

As for Obama, the more isolated he becomes, the more he seems to act with "defiant fury"—unilaterally changing the nation's immigration law, imposing new sweeping EPA regulations, and signaling that he will block Congress on the Keystone XL pipeline in his attempt to prove he’s still relevant.