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Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said Thursday that there was "broad bipartisan support" to expand apprenticeship programs, a policy that the White House has been pushing throughout the week.

"There is broad bipartisan support ... The challenge is that you need some sort of accountability," the Virginia Democrat said. He said he had several concerns over the potential direction of the policy and said the current standards for accountability in the government's existing apprenticeship programs should be maintained.

"What our input [to the administration] has been is to not re-invent the wheel," Scott said.

Scott was reacting to reports that Trump intends to limit or remove oversight of the funding as part of his reforms.

The lawmaker appeared with other lawmakers at the signing of an executive order Thursday by President Trump on expanding apprenticeships. "We are empowering these companies, these unions, industry groups, federal agencies to go out and create new apprenticeships for millions of our citizens. Apprenticeships place students into great jobs without the crippling debt of traditional four-year college degrees," the president said.

At the ceremony, Trump thanked Scott and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., for "car[ing] so deeply about this effort." Scott's office emphasized that he had not been involved in drafting the order and had not seen a draft prior to the ceremony. The order had not been posted on the White House's website Thursday afternoon.

Asked if he supported the executive order, Scott demurred, saying there still "uncertainties" regarding the president's policy. "We would expect some minimum standards and accountability to the government if it is federal money."

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'Broad bipartisan support' on apprenticeships, Democrat Scott says - Washington Examiner

The poll, conducted by the Republican Trafalgar Group, was completed on Tuesday eveningbefore Wednesday mornings shooting of Rep. Steven Scalise (R-LA), staffers, a lobbyist, and two Capitol Hill Police at a Republican Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

It is unclear what impact that shooting will have on the outcome of the election, which will be held next Tuesday.

The race has become the most expensive in American political history. Ossoff has raised over $23 million, while Handel has raised about $4.5 million, according to Federal Election filings covering the period ending on May 31. In addition, a number of SuperPACs and other organizations have spent money on behalf or against both candidates.

One poll released on Tuesdayshowed the race tied, butthe Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, which includes Wednesdays Trafalgar Group poll, gives Ossoff a slight 3.2 percent edge.

News of the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), several staffers, and two members of the Capitol Police at a practice of the Republican Congressional baseball team at a field in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday morning shocked both campaigns.

Handels campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Hodgkinsons Facebook post. Earlier on Wednesday morning, Handel tweeted that she and her husband were sending our thoughts & prayers to Rep. Scalise, Capitol Police, staff, & everyone affected by this horrific attack, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported:

Handel has canceled her public events for tonight.

Her Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, described the Facebook post as sickening.

I condemn this appalling act of violence committed, obviously, by a disturbed individual, Ossoff said. The country is united right now in our prayers for those who are fighting for their lives and our appreciation of those who saved lives.

Numerous reports indicated that the alleged shooter, James Thomas Hodgkinson, was a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and posted a number of statements on social media indicating a hatred for President Trump.

Hodgkinson local newspaper, the Belleville News-Democrat, reported that he frequently wrote letters to the paper protesting against Republicans and tax policies and supporting the legalization of marijuana, the Journal Constitution reported:

Trumps election as president was disturbing to Hodgkinson, who had also traveled recently to Washington to participate in protests, his brother told the New York Times.

I know he wasnt happy with the way things were going, the election results and stuff, Michael Hodgkinson said

Hodgkinson also apparently worked as a volunteer with Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign and filed a number posts on Facebook opposing Trump, according to the Journal Constitution.

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Poll: Democrat Ossoff up by Three in Georgia Special Election, Impact of Shooting on Race a Wild Card - Breitbart News

In a news conference in which they repeatedly discussed their concern about vitriolic partisan division, the managers of the Democratic and Republican teams for the Congressional Baseball Game declared that the game will go on.

Members of Congress will play each other in the decades-old game at Nationals Park on Thursday evening as scheduled. Attendees at the game will be asked to contribute to a charity supporting the families of police officers killed in the line of duty, in recognition of Wednesdays shooting which left two officers wounded, in addition to the three planned charities which support D.C. children.

Were not going to let incidents like this change our way of life or our daily routine. Were going to go ahead and play the ballgame, Democratic manager Rep. Michael Doyle (Pa.) said.

Those not attending the game can also donate online and may be able to watch the game on C-SPAN. In recent years, the game has raised more than a half-million dollars annually for local charities.

Doyle expressed hope that the congressmen showing the nation their lighthearted, united side as they play a summer game of baseball together would set a meaningful example. When the leadership of this country is civil to each other, maybe the country will be civil, too, and the news media will be civil, he said. We can change the mood of this country.

Republican manager Rep. Joe Barton (Tex.) said many of Congresss long-standing institutions aim to promote respect despite differences, from the baseball game to the language used on the House and Senate floors. You can be intensely political without being personal. A lot of the traditions of the House are designed to defuse personal animosity: the gentleman from Pennsylvania, my good friend from Texas.

He blamed numerous modern trends on eroding that bonhomie including harsher political ads demonizing members of Congress, members traveling more frequently to their districts rather than spending time getting to know each other outside of work hours, and the instantaneous news updates available online.

The managers also offered assurance that Nationals Park will be highly secure Thursday night, and said that perhaps in future years, the teams should beef up security at their practices.

I bet you most members of Congress would tell you they dont want any personal detail. I certainly dont. Ive never felt unsafe here or in Pittsburgh, Doyle said. But I do think when you have a situation where you have 20 or 30 or 40 members of Congress all in one place, in a completely open place that anybody can walk straight through, I do think maybe we should be rethinking that a little bit.

There was a Capitol Police officer present, parked in a car about 500 feet away, during the Democrats practice this morning too, Doyle said. The Republican practice had two officers, out of their car, because Scalise, as the majority whip, has a security detail.

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The baseball game will go on, Democrat and GOP managers say in joint conference - Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- Democratic lawmakers are suing President Trump over foreign money flowing into his global business empire.

Almost 200 senators and representatives are plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Trump is violating the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution. It's being filed early Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawmakers said.

The plaintiffs argue they have standing to sue because the clause says only Congress may approve foreign gifts and payments.

"The framers gave Congress a unique role, a unique right and responsibility," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who helped organize the lawsuit.

Although Mr. Trump turned over control of his real estate development, management and marketing company to his adult sons and a senior executive, he did not divest from it. That means he stands to benefit financially from the Trump Organization's profits, including from foreign governments.

Since he's become president, the Trump Organization has secured dozens of potentially valuable patents, including in China, and collected fees from lobbyists working for Saudi Arabia and other countries using his properties.

The new suit - the third of its kind - says the full scope of foreign payments to the Trump Organization cannot be known because the president has not made his tax returns public.

Earlier this week, two Democratic attorneys general filed a similar claim. Days after Mr. Trump's inauguration in January, a liberal-funded government watchdog group filed an emoluments lawsuit. A restaurant group and two individuals in the hotel industry later joined as co-plaintiffs.

Mr. Trump and the Justice Department have called these lawsuits baseless. They argue the clause isn't intended to prevent normal business such as hotel payments and real estate transactions.

"The President's business interests do not violate the Emoluments Clause, for reasons explained at length in DOJ's filing on Friday night in the CREW case. This lawsuit appears to be just another politically motivated iteration of that case," said a senior White House official. "The White House will review the Complaint, but we expect that DOJ will move to dismiss this case in the ordinary course. This is another example of the Democrats playing political games instead of working for the American people they were elected to serve."

Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, said he and Blumenthal have amassed the "greatest number of congressional plaintiffs on any lawsuit against a president." He said they're taking the action "not out of any sense of pleasure or partisanship but because President Trump has left us with no other option."

Ahead of the filing, only Democrats were asked to sign on, but Blumenthal and Conyers plan to send letters to their Republican colleagues Wednesday asking them to join the effort.

The Washington Post points out that, "The 37-page congressional complaint contends that the nation's founders were concerned that foreign powers could interfere with American affairs. The suit says that the founders were particularly worried that 'foreign states would give benefits and rewards to the nation's chief executive to subvert his loyalty.'

"As a result, they wrote the emoluments clause of the Constitution with language 'both sweeping and unqualified,"' the lawmakers' lawsuit says."

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Congressional Democrats suing Trump over foreign payments - CBS News

President Trump intends to nominate Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel to return to the Federal Communications Commission after her term lapsed at the end of last year because of political maneuvering.

The White House announced the coming nomination of Rosenworcel, a supporter of tough net neutrality rules for online traffic, late Monday night.

If confirmed by the Senate, she would become only the second FCC commissioner to serve nonconsecutive terms.

Her first five-year term expired in May 2016 but she was allowed to stay on until the end of the year as Democrats pushed Senate Republican leaders to allow a confirmation vote after President Obama renominated her.

Although Rosenworcel had bipartisan support, Senate Republican leaders did not bring her nomination up for a vote. President Obama had renominated her in January shortly before he left office, but Trump withdrew the nomination a few weeks later.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a Georgetown University law professor and longtime telecommunications consumer advocate, cheered the decision to renominate Rosenworcel.

This appointment rights a wrong, because she deserved confirmation last year, and should have been sitting on the commission all along, he said. I look forward to her zealous advocacy for universal broadband deployment, especially for younger Americans.

The five-member commission now has two Republicans Chairman Ajit Pai and Michael ORielly and one Democrat Mignon Clyburn.

But Clyburns term expires at the end of the month. The agency generally needs at least three members for a quorum to vote on rules and take other formal actions.

Trump appears to have nominated Rosenworcel, a former FCC and Senate staffer, to replace Clyburn. But its possible Trump could renominate Clyburn along with another Republican, which would allow the agency to retain its GOP majority.

The political party of the president gets to hold three of the agencys five seats.

FCC nominations usually move through the Senate in bipartisan pairs. Rosenworcels nomination is expected to be paired with the renomination of Pai, whose five-year term expires later this year.

When Democrats controlled the agency in 2015, Rosenworcel joined with Clyburn and then-Chairman Tom Wheeler to pass the controversial net neutrality rules that subjected broadband providers to the same utility-like oversight as conventional phone companies.

The move was strongly opposed by Republicans and major broadband providers, such as AT&T Inc.

The regulations are designed to ensure the unfettered flow of online content. They prohibit broadband providers from slowing Internet speeds for some content such as video streams, selling faster lanes for delivering data or otherwise discriminating against any legal online material.

Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, has proposed to reverse the utility-like oversight of broadband providers, a move Democrats and consumer advocates said would make it difficult to police net neutrality regulations.

Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

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Trump to nominate Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel, a net neutrality supporter, to return to FCC - Los Angeles Times