Former Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida struck back at House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Wednesday for blocking him from testifying about climate change before the Ways and Means Committee.
“His main concern is not solving climate change,” Curbelo told the Washington Examiner. “It’s blocking me from an opportunity he thinks could be beneficial to me in a future run for office that may not even happen. It’s really just short-sighted.”
Hoyer last week intervened to pressure Ways and Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., to revoke an invitation Neal offered Curbelo to testify. Curbelo used to serve on the Ways and Means Committee, and is friends with Neal.
“Mr. Hoyer felt it would be inappropriate for Mr. Curbelo to testify given he has been unclear about his 2020 electoral plans and has a long track record of being unable to persuade his Republican colleagues that climate change is real and needs to be addressed,” said Mariel Saez, a spokesperson for Hoyer.
Despite being disinvited, Curbelo appeared at the committee hearing, its first in a decade focused on climate change, and submitted testimony for the record, focused on promoting a carbon tax as “the best policy” to combat the problem.
Outside the committee room, he expressed regret over Hoyer’s decision, given the Democratic leader is “respected” and “regarded as a statesman.”
“Steny Hoyer has been a friend, someone who I respected very much while I was here,” Curbelo said. “The only question I have for him is, is my political future more important than building consensus to address climate change in a meaningful way? By his actions, he indicated that one congressional district and what could potentially happen there is more important than solving what is probably the greatest threat to humanity.”
Curbelo lost his reelection bid in November to Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in a competitive race. Democrats spent heavily to defeat Curbelo and control the left-leaning swing district he represented on the southern tip of Florida.
Before losing his seat, Curbelo was the first Republican in nearly a decade to introduce federal carbon pricing legislation.
Curbelo said Wednesday the incident with Hoyer “provoked a lot of introspection” about potentially running again for his former congressional seat. But he said he has not made a decision. If he did return to Congress, Curbelo said, he’d look to fix what he called a broken political system, in which partisan interests stymie bipartisan consensus from forming.
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