The DNC has very limited power compared with elected officials; they fundraise, support campaigns, set rules for primaries, and set rules for the convention delegates to agree on a party platform. They have no votes in Congress.

What can pass in Congress is determined by the last marginal vote needed to hit either a 50-vote or 60-vote threshold, so it tends to be determined by what’s ok with the most right-wing Democrat. Which is why you see the kind of policies we’ve seen.

In the current situation, the main power of the DNC is the ability to make noise. And they need to be doing that as much as possible.