Carlos Curbelo

 ( 1980 Births ) 

In the November 2018 general election, Mucarsel-Powell defeated Curbelo with 50.9% of the vote to Curbelo's 49.1%.

Reflecting on his election loss, Curbelo said the Republican Party "has to understand that if we're going to have a small government, free enterprise party in America, that Trumpism isn't the future for such a party."

• Committee on Ways and Means
• Subcommittee on Human Resources
• Subcommittee on Oversight

In November 2017, Curbelo made a bid to join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is made up of 30 Democratic members of Congress. After Curbelo made a presentation to the group, caucus membership took a vote and a majority refused to admit him to its membership. Members of the caucus cited Curbelo's vote in favor of repealing Obamacare as a reason to deny him membership, and that Curbelo had not yet signed on as a cosponsor of the DREAM Act, though he said he would vote in favor of any proposal to help undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children. Miami Herald: "Hispanic caucus tells Cuban American he can’t join the club—he’s too Republican" By Alex Daugherty November 16, 2017 In January 2018, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced that its political arm would support Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in her 2018 bid for Curbelo's seat. In an editorial, the Miami Herald criticized the caucus's decision to exclude Curbelo from its ranks, writing that "not letting Curbelo join the caucus remains a short-sighted, spiteful move" and that "The caucus should make clear that it's an exclusive club for Democrats, and that Republicans need apply—even if they're Hispanic."

As of September 2018, Curbelo had voted with his party 86.3% of the time in the 115th United States Congress.

Curbelo was a member of the United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus, the Republican Main Street Partnership the Climate Solutions Caucus, and the U.S.-Japan Caucus. Along with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, he was one of two Republican members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus who served in the 115th United States Congress.

• Affordable College Textbook Act (H.R. 3840; 115th Congress)
• Market Choice Act (; 115th Congress)

In 2016, Curbelo had the second highest rating of House Republicans on the annual scorecard of the League of Conservation Voters. The Miami Herald wrote that Curbelo has "attempted to position himself as the national voice for Republicans who are concerned about climate change," describing him as "one of the few GOP voices speaking out against Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and his desire to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency." Curbelo described climate change as a "local issue" that is causing flooding in his congressional district. Speaking about his efforts to convince his fellow Republicans about the threats posed by climate change, Curbelo told the New York Times "I know we have the truth on our side. So I'm confident that we'll win—eventually."

In December 2017, Curbelo and eleven other House Republicans signed a letter to Mitch McConnell urging the U.S. Senate "to pass a tax bill without oil-drilling concessions in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."Daughtery, Alex. (December 6, 2017). "House moderates oppose allowing Arctic oil drilling in tax bill". McClatchy DC website Retrieved December 11, 2017. Curbelo voted in favor of the final bill, which "includes a provision, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), that would require Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to approve at least two lease sales for drilling—each covering no less than 400,000 acres—in the refuge's coastal plain area."

In April 2018, Curbelo called for the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, saying Pruitt's "corruption scandals are an embarrassment" and that Pruitt's "conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers."

In July 2018, Curbelo became the first Republican in nearly a decade to propose legislation on enacting a carbon tax to address the climate change (; 115th Congress). As part of the proposal, existing taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels would be repealed, and taxes would be introduced on carbon dioxide emissions that starts at $24/ton of CO2e in 2020. According to the Columbia University SIPA Center for Global Energy Policy, Curbelo's legislation would reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 27–32 percent reductions by 2025 and 30–40 percent reductions by 2030 (compared to 2005 levels). The legislation was also estimated to increase annual federal government revenues by $57 billion–$72 billion in 2020 and $63 billion–$106 billion in 2030. National macroeconomic outcomes were estimated to decline modestly, with losses between 0.1 and 0.2 percent of GDP in the 2020s. Other Republicans disavowed the legislation, with the Republican-led House passing a nonbinding measure in July 2018 describing the legislation as "detrimental".

For his efforts Curbelo in December 2018 was called "ridiculous. That guy is a pretend environmentalist" by Tom Steyer.

On May 3, 2017, Curbelo Twitter that "I just reiterated to @HouseGOP leaders that #AHCA in its current form fails to sufficiently protect Americans with pre-existing conditions." On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Explaining his vote, Curbelo said the AHCA was "not perfect, but that it was important for him to be a part of negotiations" and that the vote "is just a step in the legislative process for this bill—not the end of it."

In February 2017, while serving on the Ways and Means Committee, he voted against a measure that would have led to a request of the Treasury Department for Trump's tax returns. He then voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.

Quartz included Curbelo on a list of Republicans opposing Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. of people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Curbelo said at the time: "I expect that these executive orders are in fact temporary and that once the Administration strengthens the vetting process, we can continue our tradition of welcoming those who are persecuted, in an orderly manner and without any kind of religious test." He said the executive orders "were hastily issued & need a lot of work."

In May 2017, President Donald Trump was accused of having pressured fired FBI director James Comey with the intent to end an FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn had resigned after 24 days in his post when information surfaced that he had misled the FBI and Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima, National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say, Washington Post (February 9, 2017). Retrieved January 12, 2019. Curbelo publicly stated that the allegations, if proven true, merited impeachment, as did Michigan Republican congressman Justin Amash. On December 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty in federal court to a single felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI.

Curbelo supported President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He stated: "Jerusalem is without question the capital of Israel and I commend the President's decision to recognize it as such."

In September 2018, FiveThirtyEight found that Curbelo had voted in line with President Trump 82% of the time, and was the sixth-most partisan Trump supporter in the House when compared to his district's voting patterns. target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Tracking Congress in the Age of Trump, accessed September 25, 2018

In 2017, Curbelo introduced a bill to ban in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" on February 18, 2018, Curbelo called on Republican congressional leaders to introduce gun-control measures.Lim, Naomi; Carlos Curbelo: Republican leaders need to bring gun legislation to the floor of Congress for debate; Washington Examinder; February 18, 2018; [8]