[6] Burgess, who had never held any public office entered the 2002 Republican primary election to replace House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

The district, comprising almost all of Denton County (except a sliver in the southeast), was strongly Republican, and pundits predicted that whoever won the primary would not only win the general election, but be assured of at least a decade in Congress.

[7] Using the campaign slogan "My dad is NOT Dick Armey", Burgess touted the support of medical Political Action Committees and organizations like the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Before the runoff, The Dallas Morning News released a series of articles alleging that Armey used his influence as a judge to procure county jobs and contracts for his friends.

[19] On August 9, 2011, Burgess met with a Tea Party group in Keller, Texas, to discuss his vote to raise the debt ceiling.

When a constituent asked whether the House was considering impeaching President Barack Obama, Burgess responded, "It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up ... No question about that.

[24] Burgess supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying that Trump was "well within his authority" to issue the order and that "Congress should remain involved in the process and provide legislation to strengthen not only border security but vetting those who wish to enter the country through any means.

The bill would also eliminate the Optional Practical Training program that allows foreign graduates to stay and work in the United States.

[27] Since the 111th United States Congress, he has chaired the GOP Doctor’s Caucus, a group of 19 medical professionals in the House Republican Conference.

[30] Burgess's claims that the standards represented a "ban" on conventional light bulbs were rated as "Mostly False" by the fact-checking website PolitiFact.com.

[34] In December 2020, Burgess was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[35] Trump.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

[36][37][38] In January 2022, Business Insider reported that Burgess had violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, a federal transparency and conflict-of-interest law, by failing to properly disclose a sale of stock in Cigna Corp.[39] In June 2021, Burgess was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq.