“The Thin Red Line” – An Open Letter to Non-MAGA Republicans

As Trump’s personality cult, attacks on institutions, and consolidation of power intensify, a small number of principled Republicans may determine whether the United States remains a constitutional democracy or slides further toward authoritarian rule.

It could not be clearer: the country is well along the road to authoritarianism and autocracy, and the coming six months will be decisive. The actions of a few, notably the seemingly rare non-MAGA “Republicans,” will play a critical role in the direction events take. They must rise to the occasion to support and defend U.S. democracy.

The evidence of President Trump’s authoritarianism is overwhelming. His starting point, his cult of personality, is further confirmed by his decision to plaster his picture on new U.S. passports after adding his signature to U.S. currency and his picture to national park passes, his name to storied Washington institutions like the Kennedy Center and draping his glowering visage off U.S. government buildings. This personality cult should make all patriotic Americans, including Republicans, recoil in horror.

Those are just the visuals. Many other red lights are flashing: uncountable court cases challenging arbitrary and constitutionally questionable executive orders; constant presidential public vilification and prosecution of enemies, most perceived rather than actual; unrelenting and systematic presidential attacks on the free press; purging the MAGA/Republican party, installing loyalists at all levels and branches of government; and a full out MAGA effort to rewrite history in line with Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.

The country faces two major hurdles: the upcoming MAGA propaganda onslaught that is Project 2025’s Freedom 250 campaign keyed to July 4 and, more ominously, the November mid-term elections. The Trump MAGA machine has shown it will do pretty much anything to consolidate its power and future control of the country.

What to do and who’s to do it?

One key group that truly needs to step forward in the country’s best interest is the very “thin red line” of non-MAGA Republicans, admittedly as hard to find as unicorns, but critical nonetheless. They should take heart from public opinion polls confirming that voters are souring on the Trump 47 administration’s demonstrated incompetence and missteps, and deliberate actions to undermine U.S. democracy and institutions.

Where, how and when can this “thin red line” make a difference? There are many key issues and moments.

Most fundamentally, they must vociferously reject the Big Lie questioning the integrity of U.S. elections. Thankfully, a number of Republicans had the backbone to stand up against the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol aiming to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election, but the Trump lie has become a litmus test within the non-Republican MAGA party in the six years since. Recent confirmation hearings of Trump 47 judicial nominees show the virulence of this cancer.

Equally pressing: the Iran war, launched in the most authoritarian and ill-considered way; at open variance with the administration’s own November 2025 National Security Strategy document and its assertions about the success of its June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer attack. The administration’s refusal to follow its obligation to obtain Congressional authorization within 60 days of initiating hostilities is particularly egregious and corrosive to the Constitution and legislation.

Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s banal and belligerent April 29-30 testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees should certainly buck up the resolve of potential “thin red liners” to challenge the unsanctioned war. The “red line” should join others in questioning the President’s incompetent and one dimensional decision-making in late February, and the shallow and ill-informed handling of negotiation exchanges with the Iranians by his real estate special envoys in the weeks since.

Then there is the gross politicization of the Department of Justice (DoJ). Senator Tillis’s stance against frivolous DoJ charges against Federal Reserve Chair Powell was encouraging and successful. Hopefully others will do the same in other cases: the case against former FBI Director Comey; the administration’s campaign against fraud, which targets “blue” states while ignoring the administration’s pardoning of numerous fraudsters; and the Trump family’s (president included) self-dealing domestically and internationally in multiple areas, real estate and crypto, to name a couple.

The list of legally vulnerable authoritarian Trump 47/MAGA actions is lengthy. One example is the proposed SAVE Act, a naked partisan attempt to limit voting access. The only election fraud that occurred in the 2018 election in North Carolina’s 9th district, was Republican operatives’ ballot harvesting, which forced a new election there. The SAVE Act is a clear step toward a national identity card; which, like so much else that is MAGA, was an anathema to conservatives of the past, and is something that should be fully debated within Congress and U.S. society.

The potential “thin red liners” of 2026 will be those with the integrity and backbone of people like Senator Sam Ervin (R-NC) who stood up to Nixon during the pressurized months of Watergate, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) a war hero who stood up to President Trump to defend the health care of the disadvantaged and Senators Murkowski, Cassidy, and Collins who courageously voted for President Trump’s impeachment after he encouraged the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol in an attempt to block the certification of Biden as the new President. The country should also look to heroic state and local level Republicans to speak out and act in support of U.S. democracy and democratic institutions.

Will “the thin red line” act in the best interests of the country and block the Trump/MAGA move to authoritarianism? Are they principled enough with sufficient backbone? Can they take the political pressure and threats of this autocratic President?

Let’s hope so. It only takes a few good women and men to meet the moment; and the moment is now and the year ahead.

Mike Mozur is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer with over 33 years of experience in the Soviet Union, former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Latin America. He also led a global professional association of environmental scientists and writes periodically on current political, economic, and social issues. He is a member of The Steady State.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.