A second cousin (five generations removed) to the former House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky, Fleming is a member of Sons of the American Revolution and Jamestowne Society.

He chose Minden for his city of residence because, in his words, it "has small-town charm, warm essence of life, long, lazy summer days with watermelon cuts and family reunions.

[19] On December 2, McCrery spoke on Fleming's behalf in an appearance on The Moon Griffon Show radio program, which is syndicated in most Louisiana media markets.

In his statement, Fleming said: "For me to enter the race now would risk a contest between two experienced Republican congressmen, potentially offering Senator Landrieu a path back to Washington.

"[38] On December 10, 2014, KTBS, a Shreveport based ABC television station, reported that Fleming was considering running for the Senate seat held by David Vitter, who ran in the 2015 gubernatorial election.

Others who sought the Senate seat that Vitter vacated were Fleming's House colleague and fellow physician, Charles Boustany of Lafayette, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish (a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and an advisor to John Bel Edwards), Democrat Caroline Fayard, and State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy of Madisonville, the ultimate winner of the position.

The legislation was supported by hunting groups, including Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association of America, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

[45][46] The Fleming Duck Stamp bill passed the House and Senate by voice vote and was signed into law by President Obama on December 18, 2014, as it had broad bipartisan support.

[58] In 2014, California began enforcing a 1975 state law requiring all insurance companies to charge and cover all subscribers for abortion services, even if they object based on religious or conscience beliefs.

"[64] The resolution created a public outcry, after an interview of Fleming by Fox News' Meghan Kelly, demanding that members of Congress should also be subject to Obamacare.

[65][66][67] Fleming was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law in 2010[68] and was the subject of more than 50 repeal attempts by the Republican-controlled House.

"[70][71] Fleming helped write, cosponsored and introduced the Republican Study Committee's American Health Care Reform Act of 2013, which was re-introduced in 2015.

[72][73] In a September 19, 2011, interview on MSNBC in which Fleming was critical of President Obama's proposed plan to increase taxes, he was questioned about the reported $6.3 million of gross revenues his private restaurant company received the previous year.

Bruce Alpert, of Louisiana newspaper The Times-Picayune, reported that "on liberal blogs, Fleming was portrayed as insensitive to millions of working Americans who are struggling to meet expenses in the face of high unemployment and stagnant wages.

[80] With the support of the House Freedom Caucus, Fleming utilized a rarely used parliamentary procedure called a privileged motion[81] to force a vote on impeachment of Koskinen.

[82] Though the motion required a vote on impeachment, House leadership and the Freedom Caucus negotiated a compromise for Koskinen to return for an additional hearing to learn more about his actions in the scandal.

[80][83][84] As Fleming entered Congress in 2009, use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter emerged as methods for members to connect directly with their constituents.

"[86] The amendment drew objections from the White House, with a spokesman saying that commanders need discretion to, "address potentially problematic speech and actions within their units" and that the measure would "have a significant adverse effect on good order, discipline, morale and mission accomplishment."

Democratic Congressman Rob Andrews of New Jersey said that it was "wrong" to tell an irreligious service member that they "must go to a mental health professional in order to receive counseling, rather than someone who comes from their philosophical faith or tradition.

[94][95] Fleming served as co-chair of VAT, a House caucus, that met regularly with interest groups in support of legislation and court decisions that are pro-life and pro-traditional family.

[102] A compromise deal was struck, called the Budget Control Act of 2011, between Republican Speaker John Boehner and President Obama that would create a bipartisan and bicameral "super committee" in Congress to decide how to equitably lower discretionary spending.

"[108] Forbes noted that Fleming's district includes Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk, both major military installations.

"[117] Fleming supported the company Hobby Lobby in its legal challenge to the application of the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate to the company; the Supreme Court of the United States ultimately ruled in favor of the company in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc..[117] Fleming, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, proposed an amendment to the fiscal year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) providing that "Except in cases of military necessity, the Armed Forces shall accommodate the beliefs, actions, and speech" of members of the armed forces.

Fleming said that the ceremony "should not have occurred at Fort Polk, especially since the people of Louisiana have made it abundantly clear that our state does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions" and characterized the event as part of a "liberal social experiment with our military.

[122] Fleming was also a co-sponsor of The First Amendment Defense Act, a bill designed to protect religious institutions from being forced to perform marriage or other ceremonies that violate their teachings.

On being appointed, Fleming said that his goals were to remove barriers to health care innovation[135] and to promote greater usability and interoperability of healthcare information technology systems.

Fleming's work was primarily focused in the area of streamlining required workflow in the use of technology and the reduction of health care clinician burden.

Finally, he called for merging state and regional PDMPs into a single national database, easily accessible by clinicians with proper authorization and privacy security.

Sources[151] close to Fleming said that he considered entering the nonpartisan blanket primary on October 12, 2019 against Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, a candidate for a second term.

Columnist Sam Hanna, Jr., of the Ouachita Citizen weekly newspaper in West Monroe, said that Fleming could run because neither of the two announced Republican candidates, U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham of Louisiana's 5th congressional district or Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone, had yet to make much impact toward unseating Edwards.