Clements' face-off with Willis won him popularity and helped him win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Kentucky's second district, in 1944. He was re-elected in 1946. A New Deal Democrat, Clements voted to increase funding to the Rural Electrification Administration and advocated for the 1945 National School Lunch Act. He supported expansion of agricultural research and reorganization of the Farm Security Administration. He endorsed conservation and wildlife programs and additional funding to federal parks. He supported civil rights legislation, such as bans on lynching and poll taxes and he did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto. He opposed the Taft-Hartley Act and voted to disband the House Un-American Activities Committee. His service on the Select House Committee on Food Shortages gave him the chance to interact closely with President Harry S. Truman.