I remember that John Bolton was also a recess appointment, blocked by filibuster. In my research, I found a tidy Wikipedia article (It’s Wikipedia, so do with it what you will)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment
This isn’t the worst thing Obama has done.
The Dodd Frank bill that set up the Consumer credit protection program, says that the head of it must be confirmed by the Senate. The bill itself states that the head of that department MUST be confirmed by the Senate.