Republican calls House speaker vote 'theater of the absurd'

A GOP lawmaker called Friday's House Speaker vote — in which two Republicans were finally convinced to change their ballots but a third still held out — "the theater of the absurd."

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) posted his congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) on X for keeping the speakership before Lawler appeared with CNN's Jake Tapper.

"What was going on behind the scenes?" Tapper asked. "You had six people refusing to vote, then they voted for Johnson. Three people voting against him, then two of them flipping their votes.