Oh, crap. Is there anything that can be done to forestall this?
Sometimes, especially when both houses of Congress are controlled by a different party than that
of the President and since both Houses must consent to adjourn, the Senate or House leadership will
seek to block any potential recess appointments by not allowing the Senate to adjourn for more than
three days, blocking a longer adjournment that would allow recess appointments to be made. Harry Reid
and the dems did this to GWB during his last two years.
Under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution: The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
Courts have interpreted "recess" to mean a ten or longer-day gap between sessions of the Senate. That means Obama, during the recess, could appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, since by adjourning for the year on December 9, the Senate will be gone for far longer than ten days.