Carlos Luis Curbelo (born March 1, 1980) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

[1] Curbelo was significantly outspent during the campaign, as national Democrats eyed a pick-up opportunity in a district that had been won by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

According to McClatchy, "Curbelo has broken ranks with his party to take lonely stands on high-profile topics ranging from abortion and women’s health to climate change, the environment, immigration and government spending.

[18] 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.

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.

"[31] 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.

"[32][33] 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.

"[35] 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 (H.R.

"[41] On May 3, 2017, Curbelo tweeted that "I just reiterated to @HouseGOP leaders that #AHCA in its current form fails to sufficiently protect Americans with pre-existing conditions.

"[47] 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.

[49] 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.

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.

[52][53][54] Curbelo publicly stated that the allegations, if proven true, merited impeachment, as did Michigan Republican congressman Justin Amash.

[55][56] 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.

[59] The Brady Campaign, a gun control advocacy group, labeled Curbelo an "NRA lap dog" for his support of the Second Amendment.

[61] Appearing on ABC's "This Week" on February 18, 2018, Curbelo called on Republican congressional leaders to introduce gun-control measures.

[60] In November 2017, he said he would oppose any appropriations bill to fund the government past December 31 unless Congress passed permanent protections for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which currently impacts nearly 700,000 people and which President Trump rescinded in September 2017.

[67] Curbelo has pushed for a permanent version of DACA and is a co-sponsor of a bill on the topic developed with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

[69] He filed the Recognizing America's Children Act (RAC) and said he would "support any bill that has a chance of putting DACA protections into law.

[70] On July 6, 2018, Curbelo was denied entry by the Department of Health and Human Services into a government facility housing immigrant minors separated from their parents at the Mexican border.

He also voted against repealing a District of Columbia law that protects employees from employer retaliation when they have abortions, use birth control, or make other reproductive choices.