Move over, Lieber and Stoller. Make way, Lennon and McCartney. There’s a new songwriting team in town.

Last Thursday, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and bandleader Paul Shaffer of the “Late Show with David Letterman” teamed up at a fundraiser for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute not only to perform but to debut some original material.

With the pairing of the famed piano player and Craig, a member of the now-defunct Singing Senators, there was some pressure to entertain the crowd, at a private home in McLean. So the pair sat down to write a song earlier that afternoon.

Fortunately, Craig had some inspiration, thanks to his meeting earlier that day with Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

“This afternoon, I met a fellow who moved me to write a song,” Craig told the crowd. “So with Paul’s help, in five minutes we wrote a song.”

Added Shaffer, “We’re going to set the mood. This is a very moody piece.”

Thus was introduced their plaintive original composition, “Alito,” sung to the tune of “Maria” from “West Side Story,” with Alito subbing for Natalie Wood’s Maria.

Here are the lyrics, transcribed by The Hill, thanks to a recording made by Craig press secretary Dan Whiting:

“The most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard/Alito, Alito/Alito, I just met a judge named Alito/And suddenly the name will never be the same/Alito, Bush just picked a judge named Alito/Alito, say it proud, that Republican saying/Say it soft and there’s Democrats praying/Alito, may the Senate confirm Alito.”

“Not Miers,” Shaffer injected for good measure at the end.

The duo also performed a relatively straight version of “Try to Remember” and a playful version of “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.”

Craig: “I bring home the pork.”

Shaffer: “I stick it with a fork.”

Craig: “I can dodge the press.”

Shaffer: “Not getting caught?”

Craig: “Yes.”

Shaffer: “That’s what I thought.”

Overall, Whiting said, “the event went very well. They definitely had some fun with it.”

It looks as though the efforts of the new owners of Signatures restaurant to cast off the specter of former owner Jack Abramoff are bearing fruit.

Soon after its opening in early 2002, Signatures established itself as was one of the city’s top addresses for GOP fundraisers. All that changed late last year, however, when Abramoff came under investigation for numerous ethical transgressions. It didn’t help matters when a New York Times report uncovered instances of Abramoff not charging top GOPers for dinners and fundraisers.

But now, with new ownership, including former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) and Da Vinci Group CEO Mark Smith, in place, it appears the radioactivity has lifted.

Tomorrow, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) is holding a $1,000-per-PAC/$500-per-individual event there.

And according to one GOP fundraiser, Feeney’s bold dive back into the formerly cold waters of Signatures may be the first of many.

“We’re hoping that it will be OK from here on out,” the fundraiser said. “I know some people are still squeamish about doing events there, but we hope they’ll come around. It’s really convenient, especially when votes are called.”

Said Smith, “People will make up their own minds, and we will welcome them.”

Pryce: Abramoff a ‘creep’

Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce (Ohio), whose name has recently surfaced in Jack Abramoff-related scandals, wants her constituents to know exactly what she thinks of the disgraced former lobbyist.

Abramoff has been “no friend of this office,” Pryce told The Columbus Dispatch in a story that appeared Saturday. “We think he is a creep, and we hate him.”

It was recently reported that Pryce wrote a letter in 2003 to Interior Secretary Gale Norton opposing a new Indian casino in Louisiana.

Speculation had her writing the letter at Abramoff’s behest — or even signing her name to a letter that Abramoff had written. But, the Dispatch reported, the letter actually came at the request of Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.).

McCrery said, “Whoever is saying Abramoff drafted a letter, if he’s referring to my letter, doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I had no contact with Abramoff on [the] issue. I didn’t even know he was involved.”

Break it up, gentlemen!

Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, who isn’t known to back down from a fight, ended up mediating one during a hearing last week on the tax-exempt status of credit unions.

After Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) finished querying one panel of witnesses, Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Ky.), seemingly peeved at McDermott’s line of questioning, brought up a moment McDermott might prefer to forget: “If [McDermott] had his way,” Lewis said, “Saddam Hussein would still be president of Iraq.”

McDermott, who raised eyebrows in 2003 with trips paid for by Iraqi businessmen and public suggestions that President Bush timed Hussein’s capture to milk it for political benefit, fired back.

“The gentleman from Kentucky is out of order!” McDermott protested.

Thomas gently interceded. “The gentleman from Washington made statements he wished to make,” the chairman noted. “The gentleman from Kentucky made the statement he wishes to make.”

McDermott’s press secretary, Mike DeCesare, said, “From time to time people butt heads, and that’s expected, but there was a ‘What was that all about?’” element to the hearing. “I assume [Republicans are] under enormous stress and pressure, given what’s going on in Iraq and the sagging poll numbers.”

Lewis’s office did not return a call for comment.

Sen. Stevens gets hot at suggestion he’s vengeful

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) wields a lot of clout on the Senate Appropriations Committee as former chairman of the panel and current head of the Defense Subcommittee. But don’t ever suggest that he’d use it for revenge.

Stevens became irate last week at the suggestion that he may use some of the power he’s accumulated in his seven terms for payback against colleagues who tried to cut funding for Alaska’s so-called “bridge to nowhere.”

The much-publicized, much-maligned bridge, which received about $220 million dollars in the highway authorization bill, would connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island, home to about 50 people.

Last month, freshman Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) suggested funding for the infamous bridge should be redirected to pay for a Louisiana bridge damaged by Hurricane Katrina, prompting an angry floor outburst from Stevens, who threatened to resign if colleagues supported Coburn.

Nevertheless, Stevens doesn’t appreciate the suggestion that he’ll exact revenge on Coburn or any of the 14 other Republicans who supported his amendment. When asked by The Hill if Coburn should receive appropriations projects after trying to cut those of his colleagues, Stevens growled: “I’m offended you would ask me that question” and then declared at a decibel usually reserved for floor tirades: “I’ve never retaliated against anyone in my life!”

Former Rep. G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery (D-Miss.) is among 14 who will receive the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony tomorrow.

The nation’s highest civil award, the medal honors distinguished service to the country or to world peace.

A White House statement said, “Sonny Montgomery was a champion for veterans during his 30 years as a member of the House of Representatives from Mississippi. His signature achievement was the Montgomery GI Bill, which has helped make education affordable for millions of veterans.”