Final answer:
A successful discharge petition in the U.S. House of Representatives forces a bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote, circumventing committee and leadership holdups. It requires a majority of House members to sign and is a demonstration of members taking legislative control into their own hands. It is unique to the House and not applicable to Senate procedures.
Step-by-step explanation:
A successful discharge petition is a procedural mechanism in the U.S. House of Representatives that allows a majority of members (218 out of 435) to force a bill out of committee and to the floor for a vote. The use of a discharge petition is relatively rare but can be an important tool for bypassing a committee or leadership bottleneck, where a bill is not being advanced for a vote. The petition is a way for members to take control of the legislative process and circumvent potential obstructions by the Speaker, majority leader, or committees.
When a discharge petition is successfully implemented, it effectively overrides the control of the committee and leadership over the bill in question. It does not necessarily imply that a majority of senators agree on the bill, nor does the Speaker need to step away from the podium or the chamber vote for cloture, or the Speaker or majority leader intervene directly. It is a process specific to the House of Representatives and is not applicable to the Senate.
Nevertheless, achieving the necessary signatures for a discharge petition is challenging, as it requires crossing party lines and can be seen as a challenge to the party leadership's authority. If successful, however, it leads directly to floor consideration of the proposed legislation, followed by the opportunity for debate and a vote. The Senate has its own processes, such as invoking cloture to end a filibuster, which is not directly related but is another way that legislation can be advanced over minority opposition.