Chris Stewart launches new lobbying firm days after leaving Congress

• Stewart founded Skyline with his former chief of staff Clay White.

Flashback: Stewart said he was retiring from Congress due to his wife's health.

Details: Delaware business records show Stewart incorporated the firm less than a month after he announced his resignation, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday.

• Ethics rules forbid Stewart from contacting his former colleagues in Congress for a year, but he may advise clients on how to lobby them and work directly with the Biden administration.

Of note: American Global Strategies was co-founded by Utahn Robert O'Brien, a former Trump national security adviser who was considered a prospective candidate for Mitt Romney's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat.

• O'Brien told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that he would not run after all.

What's next: Stewart's reliably Republican 2nd district seat will remain empty until January when the winner of November's special election takes office.

• Former Stewart staffer Celeste Maloy won the Republican primary this month and will face state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, a Cottonwood Heights Democrat.
• Stewart won re-election in 2022 with nearly 60% of the vote.